Fun With Rocks

Getting In Shape By Climbing "A Half Dome Day"

2013-05-22T16:06:00.001-05:00

A story by John Long about climbing at Joshua Tree in the 70s. They wanted to climb "a Half Dome day;" which is 2,000 feet of climbing in one day. Without ropes. Here's an excerpt:

"Yosemite’s Half Dome is two thousand feet high, call it twenty rope lengths. So we’ll have to climb twenty pitches, or twenty climbs, to put in our Half Dome day.

Bachar laces up his boots and cinches the sling on his chalk bag. 'Ready?' Only then do I realize he means to climb all two thousand feet solo, without a rope."

Living Under A Rock

2013-05-20T06:54:00.001-05:00

A town in Spain built houses under the overhanging cliffs in a gorge. More details and photos here.

Think of the climbing potential from your 2nd floor patio.

Running Is Inherently Dangerous

2013-05-19T20:41:00.001-05:00

A jogger recently fell to his death on Barn Bluff in Red Wing. Details here. (Aaron pointed this story out to me.) So, folks, don't go running near the edge of a cliff.

On the other hand, Henry David Thoreau found Red Wing and Barn Bluff to be a healthy place to go. Here's a photo of where he stayed in Red Wing in 1861.

“I had an incessant cough,” Thoreau wrote, “and the doctors told me I had to ‘clear out’ to the West Indies or elsewhere. So, I selected Minnesota.” Accompanied by amateur botanist Horace Mann, he arrived in Red Wing on June 23, 1861, to explore Barn Bluff and the bottomlands of the Mississippi River.

What The Crocodile Had For Dinner

2013-05-18T21:31:00.003-05:00

Why would a husband and wife spend 6 months to cross India in a 1936 Rolls Royce? For the same reason you'd cross Africa to find out what the crocodile had for dinner - to have an excellent adventure. As he says in the video below: "You just need an excuse for an expedition...when you have an excuse, the expedition will take on a life of its own." (He has the best outfit for an expedition I've ever seen. )

Is There A Better Way To Spend Your Anniversary Than 2,500 Off The Ground?

2013-05-18T18:38:00.000-05:00

2,500 above the ground on El Cap is where the Smileys spent their anniversary. There are lots of places with better food but not better views.

Salathe - El Capitan, Yosemite from Mark Smiley on Vimeo.

"There's Only A Start, A Finish And A Struggle In Between"

2013-05-14T14:10:00.000-05:00

A woman sets a new speed record for mountain biking the Kokopelli Trail near Moab, UT - 142 miles in 13.5 hours. "Two hours into her ride, Rebecca crashed hard and dislocated the index finger on her left hand. She continued riding for another 11 hours with that pain. And to make matters worse, as she rode through the night, her headlamp died, leaving her to ride in darkness from 4:00 AM to about 6:00 AM. Despite these difficulties she still managed to set the new record anyway."

Her video below is full of wonderful quotes such as "There's only a start, a finish and a struggle in between." And, "It's too easy to slack and get lazy when the pain comes."

Because it's a Red Bull video, it is great to watch.

Climbing The Tallest Free-Standing Pile Of Mud

2013-05-14T08:05:00.002-05:00

This is the Fisher Towers outside of Moab, UT. It is just dried mud. In this video, they go from backing off a "5.2 mantle" pitch to finishing a "5.11 sketch" pitch.

Climbing Everest In 3D

2013-05-14T07:53:00.001-05:00

This video is the best representation of the normal route up Everest I've ever seen.

7 Minutes To Fitness

2013-05-12T07:41:00.000-05:00

I think if more people followed these scientifically-based exercises, there'd be no need for classes, gyms, coaches, etc. Article here.

"The exercises should be performed in rapid succession, allowing 30 seconds for each, while, throughout, the intensity hovers at about an 8 on a discomfort scale of 1 to 10, Mr. Jordan says. Those seven minutes should be, in a word, unpleasant. The upside is, after seven minutes, you’re done."

Ice Over The Falls

2013-05-10T19:57:00.000-05:00

Jen sent me a link to this video of ice out at Tettegouche Park this spring. It's quite a dramatic change in the river level once the ice comes through.

Quite The Tree House

2013-05-09T16:17:00.002-05:00

Built near Whistler in B.C. More info here.

A Climbing Love Story

2013-05-08T08:22:00.002-05:00

Here's the trailer from a movie featured at the recent Tribeca Film Festival. Outside Magazine says:

"The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars opens outside a hospital: Matteo (Enrico Lo Verso), an avid mountain climber, has just received a heart transplant. He says farewell to fellow heart patient Sonia (Nastassja Kinski) and waves a carabiner at her—a reminder of a climbing date they’ve set for the future.

Six months later, they keep their plans and meet in the Dolomite foothills of Italy. She has a husband, but this isn’t an affair. She must make this climb, she tells her husband, to fulfill her promise to a man who helped her through surgery—and as she and Matteo begin their vertical ascent, you get it. This is more than a promise. This is two people testing their new leases on life, affirming that no physical feat can hold them back. A bit sentimental? Yes, but it also resonates. Plus, the views from the top are pretty spectacular."

Ice Breaking In Antartica

2013-05-07T07:06:00.001-05:00

An article about spending two months on an ice breaker that started at McMurdo, is here. As extreme as the conditions are, this ship appears to be fairly comfortable.

A 5 minute video of her two month trip is below. It's fun to watch.

Canyoneering In British Columbia

2013-05-04T07:53:00.003-05:00

Canyoneering near Squamish, B.C. Looks cold, wet and fun. More details here.

Down The Line - Trailer from Francois-Xavier De Ruydts on Vimeo.

Climbing Is Best Left To Young, Single Men

2013-05-01T22:42:00.002-05:00

In an interview with high altitude Sherpas of Nepal, one of them says, ""Climbing is exciting, but dangerous,. It's best left to young, single men."

He's talking about the career Sherpas who support the big expeditions in the Himalayas.

There is a lot of information about the history of Sherpas and climbing in this article.

Best Belay Photos

2013-04-26T09:21:00.002-05:00

There's a forum topic on SuperTopo with many photos of "Sketchy Belays." Here are a couple I thought looked fun.

135 MPH On A Bike

2013-04-22T17:04:00.004-05:00

New record for speed on a production mountain bike set by the guy who crashed so hard 10 years ago on a volcano. More info here.

Another Warm, Sunny Day

2013-04-18T08:24:00.002-05:00

What a beautiful sunny day! The sun's shining on another warm spring day in Minnesota. Well, at least in my imagination. I looked out our windows this morning and tried to believe I was seeing this:

I will go through the next few days pretending I am biking in the sun instead of trudging through the wet snow.

Cave Climbing In Columbia

2013-04-17T21:00:00.001-05:00

A new area in Columbia is being developed for climbing with 2,000 foot limestone walls and a huge cave with climbable stalactites. There's a video trip report below - skip to the 6:15 to hear them describe the mountain. And skip to the 7:15 to see them walking into the cave. The town they're in is called LaFlorian.

Drink Beer To Feel Good

2013-04-16T20:11:00.002-05:00

News you can use - if you drink some beer, you crave more. Who knew? I hope they didn't spend too much money to learn that.

"There were significantly increased levels of dopamine on the beer scans compared to the Gatorade scans. Subjects said they craved more beer after tasting beer, while not many said they wanted to drink more Gatorade after drinking the sports drink. This was in spite of the fact that many participants said they preferred the taste of Gatorade."

Camping Is Inherently Dangerous

2013-04-15T07:26:00.001-05:00

A tree fell on a boy and injured him while his family was camping. They are suing the Forest Service because: "'The tree was clearly dead — had been dead for years — and was within eight feet of the fire ring, and within 48 feet of the Forest Service road,' said Eric Rossman, their attorney in Boise, on Wednesday."

It was Joyce Kilmer who said "I think that I shall never see a poem as dangerous as a tree."
Be careful outdoors folks; pretty much everything in Nature is out to get you. So stay indoors and read poetry.

Salt Mines

2013-04-13T20:51:00.002-05:00

From aquamarine salt lakes (left) to salt "waterfalls," (below) a group of photos from around the world of salt mines.

Living Close To Nature

2013-04-10T07:16:00.002-05:00

This is part one about a family isolated for more than 40 years in the wilderness of Siberia. They certainly learned how to live close to nature. More videos of her story here.

Developing A New Route In Yosemite

2013-04-08T19:52:00.000-05:00

Alex Honnold bolts and climbs part of a new route in Yosemite. This is part 2. More info here.

Use Your Feet Or "Look Ma, No Hands"

2013-04-05T09:33:00.000-05:00

Usually, in climbing, more effective footwork helps us climb harder routes. This woman has very effective footwork. She's thinking outside of the Sox! shoe by flying a plane with only her feet. Her lucky shirt reads, "Look Ma, No Hands."