CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT AND SEE THE DETAILS. HAVE YOU GOTTEN OFF THE COUCH?
Sunday, July 31, 2011
July Training Log
CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT AND SEE THE DETAILS. HAVE YOU GOTTEN OFF THE COUCH?
Two Thumbs Up For The Sauna
She gave Selden's home-made sauna the green light on Friday ... and of course her mantra is "close the fucking door you'll let the heat out."
Saturday, July 30, 2011
EGG FOO COMES TO TOWN!
Every two years we get visitors from Scotland, Tupper Lake, and New Hampshire. Phil, Egg Foo, Lindsay, Michael, and I had a wild night at the Fossil Cabin. Sauna, stories, sausage, beer, whiskey, and the sOunds of Selden's pigs snorting in their nearby pen, fueled a lively evening. While Michael, Phil, and Foo got lost on the trail to Balanced Rocks, Hock and Lindsay did some laps on the crag, where the former NCS amazon almost resorted to a knee on a 5.6 climb (Hock's Blessing) ... How far the mighty have fallen.
The crew was on their way back home, via Vermont and a celebration of "Joanie Baloney's" 50th ... Wendy and Beth will be in attendance ... And of course we made plans to meet in the Sierras next March.
(CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE THE PHOTOGRAPH)
Friday, July 29, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
CHAMONIX ... Looking wintry in July
In real estate the mantra "is location, location, location," in Alpinism the mantra is, "conditions, conditions, conditions." This picture of the Pettite Verte, taken in the last days of July shows more new snow than we climbed it in March! It is hard to imagine this is the same mountain range that Larry and I had 14 straight sunny, bluebird days in 2008.
READ A SHORT ARTICLE BY A BRITISH GUIDE ABOUT CURRENT CLIMBING CONDITIONS IN CHAMONIX.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Steep Edge Films ... Check it out
The progression of Dougal's climbing life, as well as so much mountaineering history, can be followed in these four fine films: THE BAT, THE EIGER SOLO, THE HARD WAY, AND EVEREST THE HARD WAY.
In the first film, we see an amazingly accurate recreation of his new route - The Bat - on Ben Nevis with Robin Smith. The narrative was gleaned from their own writings about this epic, a route climbed out of a need for revenge and Scottish pride when Whillans had climbed Sassenach and Centurion. The only factual liberties that were taken, were small ones, as the climbers (Rab Carrington and Brian Hall) were in EBs instead of PAs.
The next film by Leo Dickerson is a masterpiece, and my personal favorite. It covers the first British solo ascent of the Eiger North Face by Eric Jones. Along the way, the film also depicts the history of the North Face, including the first winter ascent of the John Harlin Direct, a route which brought Dougal to the forefront of alpinism in the 1960s.
The final two films I watched on the Steep Edge website, were one about the Annapurna South Face, and the other about the Everest Southwest Face. The first portrays the 1970 highpoint of the era of big expeditions, while the last one depicts what is generally considered to be the last historically significant big scale expedition to the Himalayas. In the former Dougal and Don Whillans summit Annapurna, and in the latter Dougal and Doug Scott summit Everest in 1976 at 6:00 PM and then bivouac at 28,700'. Indeed, one of the pictures in the collage shows Dougal being checked for frostbite at Camp Five ... Both climbers escaped unscathed.
OH, AND IF YOU HAVE NOT CHECKED OUT THE STEEP EDGE FILM WEBSITE YOU ARE MISSING A RARE TREAT.
Burlington and Petra Cliffs
I drove Selden over to Burlington for her oral surgery appointment. As the procedure took 2.5 hours, I had time to check out the local rock gym, which was pretty darn nice, although full of summer campers. I had a good bouldering and yoga workout, and I also found out that they are hosting an elite bouldering competition on October 22nd ... It will be preceded by a kid competition ... So this might be made to order for an NCS weekend activity.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
MORE ABOUT DOUGAL HASTON
These are just a few of the folks Dougal climbed with in the late 1950-1970s. Pictured in the collage are: Whillans and Bonnington, John Harlin, Robin Smith, Hamish McInnes, Jimmy Marshall, and Doug Scott. Of course, that is just a handful of top-flight alpinists he was to climb with, as his partner list also includes: Burke, Clough, Estacourt, Patey, and Moriarty.
Monday, July 25, 2011
A Century Ago
On July 24, 1911 Hiram Bignham III, re-discovered MACHU PICCHU. He was the head of the Yale Peruvian Expedition. His book LOST CITY OF THE INCAS became a bestseller. He became a US senator, and has often been cited as the basis for the Indiana Jones character.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE SHORT NPR ESSAY ABOUT THE GOLDEN AGE OF EXPLORATION.
Animated Knots
Being dyslexic, and pretty mechanically hopeless, I have always struggled with knots. Of course, I have mastered the bare minimum for climbing - overhand, bowline, figure eight, munter and clove hitch, prusik - however the more nuanced and specialized knots have been beyond my ken. However, Grog's animated knot website and YouTube videos make even the alpine butterfly and Klemheist something I can aspire to!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Hucking A Serac In Chamonix
It does not get much better than this photograph from Vertical magazine #28. From left to right: Peuterey Ridge, Eckpfeiler Buttress, Route Major, Sentinelle Rouge, Brenva Ridge (all on Mont Blanc), Supercouloir, Gervasutti Pillar, Gervasutti Couloir, Jäger Couloir, and Pointe Adolphe Rey.
(Oh, by the way you can read Vertical on your iPhone, iPod, and iPhone with the recently developed app.)
Book Review ... Gary Hemming: The Beatnik of the Alps
A man of the sixties. An entertaining, if somewhat disjointed book. A climber that was a media star, and known by alpinists all over Europe, but virtually unknown in his American mountains. A climber whose life and climbs crossed paths with: Robbins, Chouinard, Kor, Frost, Gallwas, Harlin, Briggs, Corbet, Mazeaud, Desmaison, Exum, Mauch, Burke, Wilson, and many others. Enigmatic. He inspired scenes in the novel SOLO FACES, and it is reported that Robert Redford wanted to film his story. Suicide? Drugs? Maybe serious psychological problems, bi-polar perhaps?
A hard book to get a copy of, I am happy to lend to a fellow Fossil. His stories still captivate, even a half-century later: missing out on the first ascent of Half Dome's North Face, first American on the Walker Spur, the ballsy rescue on the Dru, South Face of the Fou, I'll-fated love affairs, and almost coming to blows with Harlin en route.
Friction Slabs
This morning I did several easy laps on the Trouble Slabs, an 80' friction climb of superb anorthosite that is about 5.2 in difficulty. As you can see from the top, it has spectacular views which include (left to right): Colden, Avalanche Peak, Angel Slide on Wright, and Algonquin.
This afternoon I intend to do some easy bouldering and yoga at the Yurt Boulder, and then later do some laps at the NCS crag. It is a spectacular day, with a much needed cooling trend arriving overnight.
Best Mountain Route In The World?
Walker Spur? The Grand Traverse? The Cassin Ridge? South Ridge of Ama Dablam? French Direct on Alpamayo? Traverse of the Palisades? D-1 on the Diamond? North Face of Half Dome?
Of course, it's all subjective and there is just a little bit of comparing apples and oranges involved as well. However, if you toss in all the variables: accessibility, beauty, length, difficulty, history, and variety a good case could be made for the Peuterey Integral on Mont Blanc.
Of course, it's all subjective and there is just a little bit of comparing apples and oranges involved as well. However, if you toss in all the variables: accessibility, beauty, length, difficulty, history, and variety a good case could be made for the Peuterey Integral on Mont Blanc.
Ascent of the Peuterey Integral on the Mont Blanc from Jonathan Griffith on Vimeo.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Quote Of The Week ... Doug Scott
As recounted by Greg Child in the recent interview in Vertical magazine: "YOU'LL NEVER REACH ENLIGHTENMENT ON A FULL STOMACH."
Hot and Humid Even In The Adirondacks
Friday, July 22, 2011
Three More Months For Cassin
Watch Out ... Larry's Training
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Bouldering Comps In The East
The Eastern Mountain Sports Pro rocks Central Park 2011 from NE2C on Vimeo.
Last month's competition in The Big Apple, captivated crowds in Central Park. Later this Fall I believe Burlington is going to host an event ... We will probably bring some NCS students over to spectate.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
80th Anniversary of the Climbing of the Exum Ridge
This is obviously a commercial for the Exum Guiding concession, however it honors a seminal event in the history of North American mountaineering, and it is true that Exum guides have been incredibly important in the major ascents in the United States as well s the greater ranges of the world. A well done video that touches on all this history.
11 Months Until The Andes
In exactly 11 months we fly to Lima, and take a bus to Huaraz. In anticipation of this trip, I have vowed to eat dessert less, blow off more carbon dioxide, and I have started to read TURN RIGHT AT MACHU PICCHU by Mark Adams, and ANDES by Michael Jacobs.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Andean Glaciers Disappearing
The Quechua rituals continue, as in the annual Qoyllur Rit’i fiesta, however the glaciers have been shrinking at a rate of ten percent per decade since 1970, literally the canaries in the coal mine of climate change.
READ THIS SHORT ARTICLE ABOUT ANDEAN CULTURE AND THE SEVERE IMPACT OF GLACIAL RETREAT ON IT'S PEOPLE.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Blast from the past ... Denali 1980
A super fast and lightweight trip to Alaska. After flying into the Kahiltna, we headed out on our Nordic racing skis. Notice the feed bag around my neck so we would not have to stop - take off packs and eat - we could just munch and keep going all day. Our tent ripped apart just before heading up the Valley of Death, and so the Cassin Ridge was out. We headed up the west buttress with the remnants of our tent, one stove and one pot, one toothbrush, one book, no rope, no climbing gear, one axe each and no puffy parkas or clothes ... Our theory was we were either moving fast and staying warm, or in our sleeping bags! Mark was nine days Bay Area-summit-Bay Area. I stayed on to wait for Michael Franklin and a new route on Thunder Ridge.
HASTON HISTORY ... South Face of Denali
The mid-1970s were a watershed moment in alpinism. This was the time when the mountaineering community began to move away from big expedition style climbs and adopted lightweight alpine style techniques. Certainly the Messner-Haebler route on Hidden Peak was important, as was the Tasker-Renshaw route on Dunagiri, however in many ways the purist and certainly the coldest was the Dougal Haston-Doug Scott line on the South Face of Denali in 1976.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
July 2012 ... Magnetron Carabiner by Black Diamond
Magnetron Technology: The reinvention of the auto-locking carabiner, coming July 2012 from Black Diamond Equipment on Vimeo.
I saw this on Will Gadd's website ... very cool.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Hock's Birthday Present
Not finished yet, however Selden is constructing a woodshed for my birthday present ... pretty handy gal, and pretty talented! Almost time to fire up the sauna again, so Fossils make your plans for a visit.
Huge Rockfall on Middle Cathedral
No climbers were hurt, however this was the second major rockfall on this formation in under a month. It was quite close to the old Harding route, the North Buttress, Grade V, 5.10. I climbed this 22 pitch route almost 35 year ago with my South African friend Richard. (Oh, on a related note, El Presidente took a 40 foot whipper on the 9th pitch.)
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
2018 Winter Olympics ... one of the promotional films made for the selection committee
Many of my Korean students ski at Pyeong Chang during school vacations, and the biathlon world championships were held here recently as well. Nneedless to say all my Korean families are incredibly excited about being chosen to host the Winter Olympics.
CORDILLERA BLANCA ... only 330 days to go!
Next year I plan to turn 60 on a 6000 meter peak in Peru. The tick list thus far includes: Urus, Ishinca, Tocclaraju, and Alpamayo. The tentative trip dates are from June 19 until July 12. Get fit. Start checking airfares. Get your gear in order and let's get it done.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
More Dougal Haston History
Dougal is probably best known for his expedition style climbing - Eiger Direct, Annapurna South Face, and Southwest face of Everest - however toward the end of his too short life, he had clearly begun to make the change to small alpine style trips. In 1974 he was on a small trip that did the first ascent of Changabang in the Garwhal Himalaya.
CLICK HERE TO READ DOUG SCOTT'S ACCOUNT IN THE ALPINE JOURNAL.
A Bouldering Expedition To The Himalayas
A very different concept, and a very intriguing video. Travel halfway around the world to a hidden spot, camp in an idyllic meadow at 4000 meters, pull out your crash pads, and send some V8 problems.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS ONE OF FIVE VIDEO EPISODES.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Blast From The Past ... Our first Alaskan Expedition
Back in the mid-1970s the Alaskan climbing scene was a bit different than today. The NPS had a mandatory four person minimum, and a gear check, that included a radio. Packs and sleds were unbearably heavy. Fixing rope was common on all routes, and multiple camps inching up the mountain were the norm. (Jon Waterman talked about Messner seeing heavily laden expedition style mountaineers on the Kahiltna, and responding with: "You Americans, you disgust me.")
Five years later Mark and I climbed Denali with half the weight and twice the speed ... Alpine style had come to Alaska.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Rock Climbing On Donner Summit
A hot day in the mid-day sun, but nice climbing on some 40 foot crags at Donner ... I did two 5.6 laps, two 5.10a laps, another 5.10b lap with a couple of slips, and then I managed all but the last five feet on the final 5.10a. Off to the Bay Area for work.
