WADA ... and another book off the library shelves

I pulled this terrific novel about biathlon off my shelves, and one of the central story lines was doping. Amazingly, by happenstance this re-reading corresponded with the recently released World Anti-Doping Agency report. Unfortunately the agency research is exactly like the fictional account.

The Night Shift

Doing laps with Lucy on skinny skis. If you are a Nordic racer, you gotta do what you gotta do, to get the mileage in.

The Dawn Patrol

Over two dozen people skinning up Whiteface by headlamp on Sunday morning.

Everything you need to know about Skimo skins

Click on the link below to view a great website and a wonderful summary.

http://www.skimolife.com/journal/2015/10/19/the-essential-climbing-skin.html

Skimo boots and climbing ... dual purpose

I was sold on this idea quite a few years ago when I met Dane in Chamonix, and saw all these Euros heading off to do laps on big ice routes in their dynafit boots. Lighter, smaller footprint, versatility ... what's not to like ... Often the price.

Click the link and head to the very useful Cold Thistle website:

http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2015/11/climbing-in-skimo-boots.html

Skinning up Whiteface

Thoughts On Thanksgiving ... a poem from Robinson Jeffers

Quite the rock climbing workout!

Jan Hojer Training from Jan Hojer on Vimeo.

Mixed climbing

One of our 8th grade girls dry tooling this past weekend ... not too shabby for a middle-schooler!

A good Saturday

I ran a 5k race in Fairhaven, Vermont in the morning, and then hiked up Pico Peak with ski poles. Afterwards I drove to pick up Lucy at St Pauls, and then back to Lake Placid. A long day.

Cardio app

Excellent for monitoring resting pulse, however it seems to take a little too long to register your heart rate during exercise. And of course I have no idea how accurate their estimates are converting resting pulse-age-weight into Max VO2.

Of course only a few Americans will remember who the heck Gunde Svan was ... of course Selden remembers because I joking suggested we name our son Gunde.

Ueli Steck running laps on the Eigerwand

http://www.uelisteck.ch/de/item/51-steck-clocks-a-2h-22m-summit-of-the-heckmair-route.html

NCS ... what an amazingly outdoorsy place!

Each weekend our students sign up for the Saturday trips of their choice.

This weekend the choices include the triple trek: disassemble a few Trek bikes, trek them up 2000' on Cascade Mountain and ride around, and also trek through the book of your choice that you read on the summit. The fourth installment of the HUNGER GAMES is opening in the theater this weekend ... Hike 7 miles in and 7 miles out to see it. A run of the mill, standard 11 mile hike up Phelps, one of the local 46ers. Or, skinning up the man-made snow at Whiteface. Participating in an all day LEAVE NO TRACE workshop. How about some M6 dry tooling in Cascade Pass, or a 5k trail running race in Fairhaven, Vermont?

Messner and his Museums

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/12/t-magazine/austria-museums-mountains.html

Another early season ski

Patagonia ... never been, probably never will, but wow ...

PATAGONIA 8K from Martin Heck | Timestorm Films on Vimeo.

First ski of the season

You had to hike the first kilometer. The snow cover was thin, however there was a layer of ice underneath and so you never bottomed out on the road. As always it's fun skiing up the Whiteface toll road.

The Nordic season has started

FIS races in Finland and Norway this weekend, and the World Cup starts in just under two weeks. Use the link to watch the classic sprint final.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OMTeCU72Jow

The machine made snow Olympics

https://www.skiinghistory.org/news/machine-made-games

The homework for my ethics class ...

This is a critically important assignment, as it forms the background for the full length movie (North Face) that we watch next week. You will write your end of term essay, which will be graded, on the decision they make after the accident ... This is not four men in a life boat (Queen v. Dudley and Stephens) but four men on a mountain face ... What would you do?

FIRST: use the link to watch the short trailer for the movie ...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7lkEfgPsOa0

SECOND: read the short Wikipedia articles enclosed below. The first paragraph is about the mountain. The second paragraph is about an attempt to climb the mountain a year before the film takes place. (Once you see the film you will realize why I included it.) The third paragraph is about the film, and yes it is based on a true story, and yes this wall is twice as big as El Capitan!

The Nordwand, German for "north wall" or "north face," is the spectacular north (or, more precisely, northwest by north) face of the Eiger (also known as the Eigernordwand: "Eiger north wall" or Eigerwand). It is one of the three great north faces of the Alps, along with the north faces of the Matterhorn and the Grandes Jorasses(known as 'the Trilogy'). It is about 1,800 m (5,900 ft) tall and overlooks Kleine Scheidegg and Grindelwald. At 2,866 metres inside the mountain lies the Eigerwand railway station. The station is connected to the north face by a tunnel opening at the face, which has sometimes been used to rescue climbers.

In 1935 two young German climbers from Bavaria, Karl Mehringer and Max Sedlmeyer, arrived at Grindelwald to attempt to climb the face. They waited a long time for good weather and when the clouds finally cleared they started. The two climbers reached the height of the Eigerwand station and made their first bivouac. On the following day, because of the greater difficulties, they gained little height. On the third day they made hardly any vertical ground. That night a storm broke and the mountain was hidden in fog, and then it began to snow. Avalanches of snow began to sweep the face and the clouds closed over it. Two days later, there was a short moment when the clouds cleared and the mountain was visible for a while. The two men were glimpsed, now a little higher and about to bivouac for the fifth time. Then the fog came down again and hid the climbers. A few days later the weather finally cleared, revealing a completely white north face. The two climbers were found later frozen to death at 3,300 m, at a place now known as "Death Bivouac".^[7][9]

The movie portrays an attempt in 1936 to summit the Eiger via the north face by two competing climbing teams. The more prominently featured pair of German climbers are Toni Kurz (Fürmann) and Andi Hinterstoisser (Lukas) from Berchtesgaden. After being refused leave from the German army (falsely claiming one of them is getting married and the other is to be Best Man), they quit their service in order to make the attempt. They are portrayed as being more interested in mountaineering than in the current politics of the time. The competing team of Austrians that eventually teams up with the German team are portrayed as hoping for a Nazi-led incorporation of Austria into Germany. Watching their summit attempt is their childhood friend Luise (Wokalek), now working for a German newspaper, who is accompanied by her cynical superior Mr. Arau (Tukur).

THIRD: in your own words, answer the following questions and email your answers to me.

A. What is the Eigerwand?

B. How did the Death Bivouac get its name?

C. Who are Toni Kurz and Andi Hinterstoisser

Another book from the library

An odd but interesting book: one part fantastic black and white photography, one part the script for a movie, one part route descriptions, and one part alpine history.

Featuring Gaston Rebuffat the most famous guide of the post WW II era, and Pierre Tairraz whose family has been photographing the Chamonix climbing science since the mid-1800s.

Another nice run before the snow flies

The footing is a little precarious with all the leaves covering the narrow single track.

1973 Chouinard Catalog

I pulled this classic off the library shelf ... Doug Robinson's article on clean climbing, artsy photographs, information on how to use the new ice tools, and the Don Jensen inspired Ultimate Thule pack. But, I got a kick out of seeing the Molitor Eis Boots - best I ever owned - and the wart hogs, and charlet-moser corkscrews. Also, how about a climax ice tool for $12!

On the road ... ain't all bad

I am spending 24 hours at the NYSAIS Heads Conference before I head to see alumni.

Alpine Warriors

Read an excerpt from the history of Yugoslavian Alpinism ...

http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/alpine-warriors-history-of-alpinists-in-yugoslavia?utm_content=buffer5e31e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Avalanche control by drones

Coming to a ski resort near you in the next couple of years ...


http://www.outsideonline.com/2027266/idea-bomb-ski-hills-drones-not-crazy-it-sounds?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tweet

Climbing tips from Scott Backes

Thanks for passing this along Gary ...

http://neice.com/tecktips/in-practice-2/

17k+ Run to Indian Head and back