What Are The Ten Most Important Climbing Books?

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN GRIPPED ... AS YOU CAN SEE THE CHRIS JONES BOOK IS #3.

Fantastic Time In Tahoe

Headed out to the Bay Area at 3:30 am for business, wearing my commemorative Squaw Valley T-shirt.

More Superb Summer Skiing

Sitting on the porch, drying gear, re-hydrating, and doing yoga. It was another great day at Squaw, with the Dynafit Mustagh Ata, silvretta 500, and my Koflach ice boots handling the Sierra cement pretty well. The only bummer was that ski patrol tossed me after the slopes closed and I started skinning back up for some exercise.

Chamonix skiing ... A trailer

Best Approach Skis In The World?

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO JON GRIFFITH'S ARTICLE ON THE UKC SITE.

Climbing Tall Tales

A schematic representation of 30+ years of lies, bull-shit, and climbing tall tales. No doubt to save myself some embarrassment I have left a few things out. Any Fossil climbing buddies care to chime in? (CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE THE TEXT.)

Sunny morning in Squaw Valley

Liz is driving Tori to the airport, as she heads back to New Zealand and nursing school. I got about three hours sleep last night due to the time zone change, and will probably head over to the lifts in another 90 minutes. Not sure yet whether I am skinning this morning or riding the Tram. (Tori climbed at Donner Summit yesterday on the hard routes of Goldilocks Wall. I will be climbing in that vicinity this afternoon, but not on any stiff routes.)

Blast FROM THE PAST: humor on the washington column

Sierra weather is looking good

Just checked my iPhone weather app on my way to the airport ... I am psyched!

That settles it ... I am also bringing my Nordic race skis

After reading a FASTER SKIER.COM article (and video) about elite skiers training last weekend on groomed trails at Donner Summit I have decided I will need to bring rock gear, AT gear, and Nordic gear for the long weekend.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE AND WATCH THE SHORT VIDEO.

Heading To Squaw Valley

A gathering of the Fossil clan ... Summer skiing on the July 4th weekend, rock climbing at Donner Summit, and the telling of Tall Tales. El Presidente and the Silver Fox better be ready!

The Snow Leopard, Peter Mathiessen, and The Historian

Nicknamed "The Historian" by my fossil climbing buddies, it is not surprising that I have a bit of the scholarly bent in me. One of my favorite websites is called THE MOUNTAIN LIBRARY. This morning at 6:00 AM when I was browsing, I found this link to a 1999 essay about, and an interview with, author Peter Mathiessen. Prolific writer, environmental activist, and arch defender of wilderness and wildlife, fossil mountaineers probably best remember him for his 1980 National Book Award winning THE SNOW LEOPARD. This link is not my usual bill of fare, nevertheless an important piece for all that love wild country.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THIS WONDERFUL COMMENTARY AMD INTERVIEW.

Download or Stream Your Favorite Mountain Films

A fantastic looking new website. It has climbing, skiing, mountain biking, kayaking, BASE jumping, and mountain culture films. You can buy them and download them to your computer, or rent them and stream them on to your computer. There are many titles here that you can not find anywhere else ... THE BAT, EIGER SOLO, CELEBRATION AT CAMP FOUR, DER BERG RUFT, HARD GRIT, AND EVEREST UNMASKED.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE SITE.

BLAST FROM THE PAST ... cutting the sled loose on the Kahiltna Glacier

Book Review: Games Climbers Play

It has been an incredibly wet spring, and the summer has started out no better in the Adirondacks. Roped pitches and bouldering have been possible as long as you can duck out of the office in between storms. It also helps to frequent spots that dry out quickly like Owls Head where these pictures were taken.

Cordillera, Peru, and Landscape Photography

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE MOUNTAIN PHOTOGRAPHER SITE.

Kahiltna 2011 ... Colin Haley's Season

CLICK HERE TO READ HIS BLOG. I COULD NOT HELP BUT BE REMINDED BY BOTH UELI STECK AND COLIN HALEY ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO HAVE THE GIFT OF TIME TO DO WARM UP
CLIMBS AND TO EASE INTO YOUR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL ACCLIMITAZATION.

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The North Face Of The Eiger

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE UKC WEBSITE WITH HISTORICAL AND ROUTE INFORMATION.

A BIT OF HISTORY: napes needle

Napes Needle with Leo Houlding from Matt Pycroft on Vimeo.

In 1886, in the Lake District, on Gimmer Crag, the ascent of Napes Needle is thought to signal the origin of the sport of rock climbing. Still graded hard severe (5.6) it demands care and thought and gear. In the summer of 1977 just before heading to the Alps I spent several weeks in the Lake District and Wales picking up partners. I wanted to climb Napes Needle, but only found a partner interested it's harder, near neighbor ... The famous crack on Kern Knotts.

Elite Nordic Skiers Dryland Training In Vermont

GAMES CLIMBERS PLAY: a selection of 100 mountaineering articles

I have been dipping into this great anthology before bedtime. No doubt if you climbed in the 1960s or 70s many of these stories and articles will be familiar. Last night I re-read: Patey's THE ART OF CLIMBING DOWN GRACEFULLY, Campbell's DOUGAL HASTON - CUMHA DUGHALL, Amy's THE GREATEST CLIMBER IN THE WORLD, and Tejada-Flores' seminal piece, GAMES CLIMBERS PLAY. Pull it off the shelf, re-read it ... and of course enjoy the cartoons. (CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO ENLARGE THE CARTOONS.)

BLAST FROM THE PAST ... 40th anniversary of Grand Teton Ski Descent

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ARTICLE AND INTERVIEW IN POWDER MAGAZINE.

Summer dreaming ... a ski trip to Baffin Island?

Skiing Baffin Island - EP2 - Everyday Classics from Doglotion on Vimeo.

Not Your Normal Climbing Video: BORDER COUNTRY by Jeremy Collins

Border Country from Jeremy Collins on Vimeo.

Jeremy Collins ... Climbing as inspiration for art

CLICK HERE TO EXPLORE HIS FASCINATING WEBSITE.

Steck ... the man, the myth, the legend

A decade ago he discovered the NCS crag, he has single-handedly (with help of students) trundled loose rock, dug out stumps, and unearthed climbs. Today he was out at 7 am cleaning the crag, and when I got there at 8 am he was doing bouldering laps on the 150 foot long, 5.11 low traverse.

All You Ever Wanted To Know About Climbing Rope

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THIS INFPRMATIVE ESSAY BY STERLING ROPE COMPANY.

Getting Fantastic Book Reviews ... Margo Talbot's, All that Glitters

CLICK HERE TO READ ONE OF THE RECENT REVIEWS.

Still Skiing Big Lines Out West ... Static Peak

Thanks to Steve Rando and the Teton AT website ... Definitely one to bookmark!

Icy Static Peak North Face from randosteve on Vimeo.

Video review of the nordic junior domestic circuit

Tighten It Up from Revived Films on Vimeo.

John Dickey is going climbing again in Kyrgyzstan ... Would you be going back if you were him?

A decade ago, he had a traumatic expedition, in which he was lucky enough to get out alive. The climbing looked fantastic, but I am pretty sure I wouldn't be going back ... Read the blurb about the book and his story from Amazon. Com ... OVER THE EDGE: A year before America woke to the madness of Islamic terrorism, four young American rock climbers were pulled directly into its line of fire on a rock climbing expedition 80 miles from Afghanistan. Oblivious to the volatile mix of ethnic strife, drug smuggling, and militant Islam brewing there, the four had been seeking extreme adventure in the "Yosemite Valley" of Central Asia. Greg Child gives a riveting chronicle of their capture by militants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (linked to al Qaeda), who dragged them through six harrowing days of gun battles before the four made their dramatic escape. . --Lesley Reed

CLICK HERE TO READ AND LISTEN TO THE NPR STORY.

Father's Day on Chapel Pond Slabs

THIS IS POSSIBLY THE BEST, MOST SCENIC, EASY MULTI-PICTH ROUTE IN THE EAST. IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE IT IN AWHILE COME ON UP, STAY AT THE FOSSIL CABIN, AND ENJOY!

The Queen ... Chronicler of Himalayan Climbing

CLICK HERE TO READ THE OUSTIDE ONLINE ARTICLE ABOUT ELIZABETH HAWLEY.

(My favorite line, was the story about Messner being interviewed by her and when asked about his current marital status, he checked all the boxes: single, married, divorced, and living with girlfriend.)

Mid-May ... The Last Haute Route Trip of 2011

Last week's first big Adirondack mountain workout!

Light Is Right

I am hoping to get to the East side of the Sierras in late August after a business trip to the Bay Area. Imagining that maybe Mark's knee will have healed, or that Danny will be available, I wondered how light my pack MIGHT be for a classic day trip like Matthes Crest. And so this morning I packed two day packs, one conventional and the other with the super light gear I have been slowly acquiring ... an impressive ten pound difference! Where did the difference come from? The 11 oz pack pictured, a wind jacket/pant combo that was 6 oz, a 9.2 mm instead of my standard 10 mm rope, a CAMP helmet that was 6 oz, a CAMP ski rando harness (4 oz) instead of a standard BD rig, gu instead of the traditional lunch of cheese-salami-orange, and one water bottle/iodine tablets instead of two quarts of water. Finally, I left the rock shoes out of the super light pack figuring I could climb the route in my SPORTIVA approach shoes.

Hiking the Olympic Biathlon Trails

Trying to drop a few pounds and regain the fitness I had in the Alps. The biathlon trails are not as steep and as rugged as the Porter Mountain nordic loops, however as folks mountain bike the biathlon trails, they are mowed a bit in the summer, so offer better hiking with poles. I went out for 45 minutes jaunt, and then read some old climbing magazines in the Fossil cabin. I re-read a great article on the history of climbing in the Ruth Gorge ... Should we go there instead of Peru?

Another Dougal Haston Blast From The Past

I just started re-reading Dougal's novel - highly autobiographical - which he finished shortly before his death. A quick read, a nice forward by Doug Scott, thin characters, but a definite window into the heart and soul (heartless would be more apt) of a man at the cutting edge of 1970s climbing. The dust jacket photograph taken by Mick Burke is from a winter bivy on the North Face of the Matterhorn. Dougal's climbing career, more or less, followed the traditional progression: Scottish rock, Scottish ice, hard routes in the Dolomites, a tour of the classic hard routes of the Western Alps, winter routes in the Alps, and then the Himalaya.

Dougal made several attempts on the North Face before he finally had success in the early 1960s.

RAPPEL KNOT TESTS

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE BLACK DIAMOND QUALITY CONTROL EVALUATION OF RAPPEL KNOTS.

GEAR REVIEW: lightweight alpine touring bindings

CLICK HERE TO READ A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW FROM THE GET STRONGER GO LONGER BLOG.

A Bit of History ... Scottish ice climbing

No doubt readers of this blog have heard me talk about that historic week on Ben Nevis, when in 1961 Wheech (Robin Smirh) and the Old Man (Jimmy Marshall) climbed all the hard routes in sight. Certainly I urge you to see the video re-enactment Pinnacle (Hotaches films), flip through your old copy of Ken Wilson's COLD CLIMBS, and of course you need to read the famous SMC essay below.

CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ESSAY ABOUT THE FIRST ASCENT OF ORION FACE DIRECT.

Trailer for a new rock climbing video

It has been hard to get motivated for rock climbing this Spring ... Snows lingering into April with May-June absurdly wet. Use this short piece for some external motivation, and get out there on the rock.

The Scene Official Trailer from Chuck Fryberger on Vimeo.

Resorting to Madness

The trailer for a documentary about the problems caused by ski resorts an the associated real estate growth and development.

Are They The Hot Ticket? Read these Gear Reviews, If You Are You Looking To Upgrade Your Backcountry Skis?

CLICK HERE TO READ LOU DAWSON'S WILD SNOW REVIEW.

In addition you ought to read this more in-depth coverage.

CLICK HERE TO READ DANE'S REVIEW ON COLD THISTLE ALPINISM.

Honnold Solo on Phoenix and Chouinard-Herbert

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT THE YOSEMITE RUMORS IN THE ALPINIST.

The Physiology of Warm Ups

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE WHICH SUMMARIZES WHAT WE DO, AND DON NOT KNOW ABOUT WARMING UP.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Having just re-read THE PHILOSOPHY OF RISK, and listened to THE BOYS OF EVEREST, I was reminded of what an amazing climb the 1970 route on the South Face of Annapurna was. It was way ahead of its time, and Dougal Haston and Don Whillans were simply brilliant. Dougal had been a climbing star after the Eiger Direct, however this climb put him in the Mick Jagger, rock star category. (Remember, click on the photograph to enlarge the image.)