Thursday, May 31, 2018
Hiking with poles on the loppet trail
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Monday, May 28, 2018
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Lots of snow in the Alps ...
From the webcam at Sunnegga, it looks like there is snow down to about the 8000 foot level in Zermatt.
Friday, May 25, 2018
First bouldering of the season ...
I got out in my big mountain boots, and went hiking around our crag loop. On the back side of the loop I stopped at our crag and did some bouldering on easy terrain. It all felt pretty awkward as it takes a few outings to get used to these super stiff boots. I will do this once or twice weekly to get ready for Zermatt.
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Sunday, May 20, 2018
Another hike up West Mountain
Saturday, May 19, 2018
First Real Mountain Run Of The Spring
Eiger Nordwand, mordwand, or a brilliant route, world class in every way?
I would have loved to read something like this, back in the day, when the route was on my mind. Great article from the Uphill Athlete website.
Thursday, May 17, 2018
Five weeks and I am off to Zermatt ...
The Riffelsee, is a small lake at just over 9000'. On the left edge of the enclosed picture you see the Riffelberg, the crag traditionally used by guides to practice rock climbing skills with their clients. On the Matterhorn the right hand ridge is the Hornligrat, the route of the first ascent. The left hand ridge is the Furrgengrat, the most difficult of the four ridges.
Of course when I get there, the view is liable to be a little different, as it is still snowing in the Alps. The picture below is from Cervinia, a town on the Italian side of the Matterhorn, and at 6,851' it is well below the Riffelsee.
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Scream Of Stone
The director Werner Herzog is not everyone's cup of tea. This 1991 film has English subtitles and originated in a suggestion from Messner. The movie has elements drawn from the history of the supposed first conquest of the summit of Cerro Torre in 1959, by the Italian climber Cesare Maestri and his partner, the Austrian Toni Egger, who died during the descent.
The spectacular trailer, with superb climbing footage is accessed by the link below.
The full-length movie can be accessed from the link below.
Tuesday, May 15, 2018
The ski to mountain running transition
Monday, May 14, 2018
Everest without oxygen ... 40 years ago
Forty years ago last week, this dynamic alpine duo, were the first to climb Everest without oxygen. This proved to be the literal and metaphoric high point of their partnership, which dissolved after this ascent.
Sunday, May 13, 2018
Quote of the Week ... David Brooks
"You know you're in a Latte Town," Brooks observed, "when you can hop right off a bike path, browse in a used bookstore with shelves and shelves of tomes on Marxism the owner can no longer get rid of, and then drink coffee at a place with a punnish name...before sauntering through an African drum store or a feminist lingerie shop."
So, I think Lake Placid doe not quite fit the bill, but Middlebury and Stowe certainly do. Plattsburgh doesn't but Burlington does, and of course, Boulder and Aspen are the archetypes.
Read a great little article that fleshed out this concept of Latte Town, populated by Bobos (the Bourgeois Bohemian).
Saturday, May 12, 2018
A Teton Picnic ...
A grand total of 63.6 miles, as you are biking from town, swimming across Jenny Lake, and running up Teewinot. You have to eat a donut on the summit - that's the Picnic - and then you head back to town. A wonderful little video, documenting one women's journey.
Friday, May 11, 2018
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Training to be an alpinist ...
At some point during your career as an alpinist it always involves some running for the aerobic base. During my years, I have run road marathons; given up running to save my knees and focus on nordic specific training, and also started running mountain trails again. Thru my live hate relationship with running I have always followed the sport: from Jim Ryun to Kilian Journey and from Tommie Smith to Shalane Flanagan.
Every Tuesday this great blog is published, take a look ...
Monday, May 7, 2018
North Face of the Matterhorn ... unfortunately it seems like this long held dream will have to wait for my next reincarnation.
Ever since I started to climb in the early 1970s, this route has been on my bucket list. After reading a story about the Schmidt brothers climb in 1931, I was hooked. Toni and Fran's cycled 600 kilometers - with all their gear - climbed the face in two days, and then cycled back to Munich.
Ever since my first view of the North Face, on my way to climb the Dent d'Herens, I put it on my hit list. In the mid-1970s the Mountain Equipment ad with a picture of Dougal Haston's winter bivy on the face entranced me. I remember writing Tobin Sorensen, just back from soloing it in winter, and he wrote something like ... "a piece of cake as long as you are comfortable on unprotectable 5.7 rock." I have headed there a couple of times, but never got further than sniffing around the bottom.
Starting to do some easy runs on the biathlon side of MVH
Sunday, May 6, 2018
Saturday, May 5, 2018
A historical badass!
About every other week, the Adventure Journal website profiles an explorer/adventurer ... often people like this whom you have never heard of.
Friday, May 4, 2018
Patagonia v. Trump with a nod to Chouinard
I think this may be the first link ever on this blog for Gentleman's Quarterly.
Thursday, May 3, 2018
A brilliant time lapse video of the Everest region
I have grown accustomed to the reality, that I am not going to visit the Himalayan mountains in this life-time. Given that, this short video might be the next best thing ...
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Steve Magness, co-author of Peak Performance
A great blog to follow ... the link below to a March entry mentions everything that ought to be in a coach's library.
