Dougald MacDonald recently launched a new site focused on the Colorado backcountry called Colorado MoJo. I caught up with him to ask some questions about the site.

What prompted you to start a new website focused specifically on Colorado outdoor pursuits?

I started Colorado MoJo because I couldn’t find anything else online that covers all the outdoor sports I love, close to home. There are lots of great outdoor sites, but they’re mostly sport-specific. Most people I know don’t just climb…they also ski or mountain bike or hike 14ers. There was a need for one site that covers multiple backcountry sports, and exclusively in Colorado.

The other issue is that many of the best sites are forum-driven, and you have to read through a mountain of posts every day to get the most out of the site. With Colorado MoJo, we sort through all that information and only publish the real gems, the must-reads. Essentially, it’s a daily online news magazine.

Have you encountered any specific challenges launching a site focused on the Colorado backcountry?

Just lack of time. There is so much to cover, but this is still very much a part-time gig.

What types of content will Colorado MoJo publish?

All Colorado. Mostly backcountry. I started the site with the sports I know best: rock and ice climbing, mountaineering, hiking, backcountry skiing, and trail running. We’ll expand from there, but only when we have real experts to manage those pages.

The site is designed to be about 50 or 60 percent news, 25 or 30 percent inspiration and how-to information, and the rest off-beat, unpredictable stuff. We take a pretty broad definition of “news.” In climbing terms, that might be new routes or access issues, but it also includes first-person stories about cool climbs, epic tales, and photo- and video-driven stories.

We’re building a library of Classics, and we want to create mini-guides to climbing areas that aren’t well known. Obviously, a lot of this information is already available at sites like Mountain Project or Summit Post, but we think there’s an opportunity to present it in a fresh and possibly more useful way.

Please talk a bit about what you don’t cover and why.

The main thing at this time of year is we’re not covering resort skiing and climbing gyms and indoor competitions. Nothing wrong with those things, but Colorado MoJo is focused on the backcountry. That said, something like the Ouray Ice Festival would fit in our pages.

We’re not covering mountain biking or paddling yet, though that could change in 2010. And we’re not doing gear reviews. I think we’ll eventually start covering equipment, but not until we can do it in a way that brings something new to the table. There’s not a lot of truly Colorado-specific gear.

How many contributors do you have so far? Any trends you’re seeing with what is being submitted?

I launched the site in late November, and until now I’ve either written or solicited most of the stories. I’ve been getting some great contributions from climbing and ski guides around the state. They really know their local areas. I’m hoping to have a couple of regular contributors on board very, very soon, and that will broaden and deepen the coverage, especially in skiing.

How can my readers contribute? Any content type or activity that is currently under-represented?

We need to set up better ways for readers to contribute, but the door is definitely open. We’re looking for stories about new routes, epic adventures (in Colorado), and just great days out in the hills. Photo essays or video clips are super-cool. I’m also looking for Classics and mini-guides. People should contact me directly if they have an idea: mojo@coloradomountainjournal.com.

Lots of times, people post a story or report at one of the big forum-based sites and it immediately gets buried. We can lay out a reader’s contribution in a way that will really showcase it, so it will stand out from the crowd, and it will be highlighted for much longer on Colorado MoJo than elsewhere.

On a personal level, what are your favorite aspects of the Colorado backcountry?

Well, I’ve always been a climber first. I’ve been climbing for more than 30 years, and what keeps me going strong is variety: I like mixed routes in the mountains as much as sport climbs at Shelf Road. But, as I said before, I just like to spend lots of time in the mountains, and so I also love skiing, hiking, and trail running.

Anything additional you’d like to share with All Climbing’s readers about Colorado MoJo?

The site is brand new and still developing, and we’re eager to hear from readers with story ideas and suggestions for what they’d like to see at MoJo. Drop me a line! We’re also on Facebook and Twitter, and those pages get updated even more frequently than the main site.

Dougald MacDonald has been skiing since he was 3, hiking since he was 5, and climbing since he was 16. He moved to Colorado in 1987, specifically for the mountains. Dougald was the publisher and editor in chief of Rock & Ice magazine for a number of years, and was the founding publisher of Trail Runner magazine. These days, he’s an associate editor of the American Alpine Journal, and writes most of the news for Climbing.com. Dougald also writes frequently for Outside, Backpacker, 5280, Men’s Journal, and many other magazines. He also wrote the book Longs Peak: The Story of Colorado’s Favorite Fourteener. He also writes a personal blog for the past five years at (http://themountainworld.blogspot.com).

(via Colorado MoJo, Prana)

Seen in Dosage V, Neanderthal follows a long and sustained 40 meter line with a hard dyno near the top of the wall.

(via ClimbingNarc, Dead Point, 9b)

Kolin Powick from Black Diamond posted another excellent gear testing article, this time on the different methods of extending slings on cam placements. He illustrates the three common methods he uses (same as mine) and then examines a sling-on-sling approach he thought was dicey.

The sling-on-sling method of extending a cam sling does save the use of a biner but in my opinion is cumbersome for both the leader and the second. It also appears to reduce the ultimate strength of the system, however, in most cases not so much as to be the weakest link in a real-world climbing situation.

Many of the comments from other climbers related to their injury, how they’ve been treating it, and where to go for additional advice.

Since these posts live forever via search engines, I thought it may be useful to simply have a post where anyone can comment on what doctors or other medical professionals they’ve found to be helpful in dealing with climbing related injuries.

I’ll start things off by listing some I recommend:

Kim Raupp, certified hand therapist, Lafayette, CO – She worked on my partially torn A2, helped me with an excellent rehab path, and I’m getting close to being fully healed.

Dr. Jeremy Rodgers, sports medicine/chiropractic care, Boulder, CO – He helped me with my elbow tendinitis.

Dr. Stephen Gunther, orthopedic surgeon, Washington, DC, – Diagnosed recurring shoulder issue (“loose” shoulder) and provided resources for rehabbing a separated shoulder.

Please add yours in the comments and hopefully we can compile a nice resource for all our fellow injured climbers.

I’m going to get real blunt here: If you want to be a better climber then damn well go climbing. Especially a better rock climber. I would bet any amount of money that if a person spent, say, 20 hours a week training and climbing hard in a structured climbing program (rock gym and outdoors) and an identical person spent 20 hours a week in a weight gym (even one promising some sort of climbing-specific program) that the actual climbing effort would destroy the gym program. Absolutely destroy it, as in 5.12 vs. 5.9, as in sending like a fiend and falling off before the first bolt on the same route. I guarantee this.

UKClimbing has an extensive overview of Yosemite climbing.

Dead Point Magazine interviews Big Up Productions.

Tommy Caldwell and Jeremy Collins win the fourth annual 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell in Arkansas.

Alexander and Thomas Huber became the first to redpoint Eternal Flame (5.13a) on the south face of Trango Tower in Pakistan (Climbing Magazine, Alpinist, TheLowDown)

Patagonia Terminates Relationship with SIGG Water Bottles

Statue of bare-bottom climber causes stir in western Colorado

Progression – Climbing Magazine

Petzl Reverso 3 belay device, Mountain Hardwear Runout climbing pants, Mammut Infinity 9.5mm rope, Black Diamond C3 cams – The Mountain World

La Sportiva Speedsters – straight outta bedlam

SuperTopo Guides To Zion and Tuolumne – Climbing Narc

Five Ten Team rock shoes – Sicky Gnar Gnar, Climbing Narc, Paul Robinson

Black Diamond Aura Harness, La Sportiva Mantis – Rock Climber Girl

Sterling Ice Thong 7.7mm twin rope – Colorado Mountain School

Patagonia Alpine Wind Jacket – SplitterChoss

Five Ten Copperhead – GetOutdoors

Black Diamond C3 and Oz and Petzl Reverso 3 – Dream in Vertical

In order to progress, you need to continually push your limits, both mentally and physically. I have always worked up the grades one letter at a time, sticking with the grade pyramid. Yet what is the worst that could happen if you push the bar and you get in “over your head”? You fall? You might as well just go for it.

(via Life in a Hippy Van: Stepping out of the comfort zone)

Each $25 donation gives you a chance a winning one of five historic Kor climbs:

Castleton Tower with Steph Davis, The Cruise with Jimmie Dunn, Kor’s Flake with Tommy Caldwell, Kor pitches at the Gunks with Eric Horst, or Washington Column with Conrad Anker…. Each time you donate, we’ll toss your name in a hat. As a thank you, we’ll give back to you what we’re able to give: these climbing days and some amazing gear bundles donated by prAna, Five Ten, Mammut, Marmot, North Face, MSR/Therm-a-Rest, Clif Bar and Backcountry.com, every month.

Full details at http://laytonkorclimbing.com/ and Stewart Green’s blog.

Phil Schaal Does 5th Ascent Of Jade (V15)

Steve McClure repeats Hubble

13 year old summits Carstensz Pyramid

Italian Climber Riccardo Cassin Dies at Age 100

Rock & Ice interviews Adam Ondra

Whether learning how to jam cracks or cruising 5.13 testpieces, tape gloves will prevent the back of your hands from turning into hamburger. Not only will this help you avoid needless suffering, it will allow you to climb exponentially more than the haughty non-taper who is sidelined by shredded skin.

While the concentration of climbers in Boulder is obviously quite high, I’ve wondered on the sustainability of all the gyms.

I just read an interesting post from the BRC (which is located literally one block away from Movement) in which they describe their new pricing changes. The summary: they’ve reduced all their prices.

When Movement opened, the lowest monthly rate for the BRC was $60 while Movement was $62. Two dollars extra a month for a shiny new gym and all their extras (full fitness center, yoga classes) was an easy decision for me to check it out for a few months. Now, the BRC’s lowest monthly rate is $55, about 8% less. But comparing apples to apples, that rate is for a 12 month commitment. The comparable rate to Movement’s $62 is now $58. While officially lower, for most people that’s a wash. And while this was more expensive than The Spot, the added fitness center justifies the price in my opinion.

These moves were obviously made to counter the new gym’s presence. The question for the BRC is will it be enough? I’ve heard a few rumors (likely just pure speculation) that Movement’s goal is to put the BRC out of business and then raise their rates. Personally, I find this hard to believe as it wouldn’t necessarily be the best business idea.

My membership to The Spot is ending soon and I’ve decided to switch over to Movement for now mainly because I need to be climbing more routes with my finger injury. I felt quite limited at my rehab efforts in a bouldering-only gym (yes, I know, nice problem to have). But if Movement eventually raises their rates too high, I would quickly go back to The Spot no questions asked.

Competition in all industries in good – it promotes innovation, better service, and a competitive price structure. For Boulder climbers, let’s hope all the gyms can continue to coexist and thrive.

So far, I’ve enjoyed climbing at Movement, but I’ve been limited in my climbing due to the finger injury rehabbing. Peter Beal has a good review from the perspective of someone who can hit the hard stuff there.

If you’ve been to the new gym, what were your thoughts?