Sierra Class 3
Insofar as I can tell, the Yosemite Decimal System, which is by far the most widely-used climbing route grading system in the United States, works extremely well provided you stay within the bounds of the Class 5 designation (more…)
Posted in Climbing | 5 Comments
Half Dome w/Daughter
No, they didn’t go up the cables, they went up the Regular Northwest Face. First thought: this can’t possibly be real. Second thought: hey, if she can do that, maybe I can too. Third thought (after reading full trip): uh, no, I can’t do that. Final thought: can we all get together and agree to not let our 12-year-old daughters do things that completely undermine my ability to think of myself as ‘rad’ ?? Just saying…
via SuperTopo
Posted in Climbing | 2 Comments
Slings ‘n Physics
If climbing’s your bag you might want to check out this sling drop-test video by DMM, in which they conduct a head-to-head comparison of Dynema and nylon slings in Factor 1 and 2 falls. The test is intended to replicate a scenario in which a climber, at a belay station, clips directly to an anchor using a short sling and then falls (more…)
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This is Your Brain on Altitude
The New Yorker recently ran a disturbing article on brain injuries in football. Just about the same time, Outside magazine wrote about an alarming study of the effects of moderately-high altitude on climbers’ brains. It has been known for some time that Everest climbers often show symptoms such as memory loss and poor coordination when they get home. And studies have found irregularities in the brain scans of 8000-meter climbers (more…)
Posted in Climbing | 10 Comments
Mt. Whitney’s East Face
When I close my eyes I see granite. Gray-white blocks angle sharply beneath my feet, plunging downward past my rubber-tipped toes. I press my back against a wall of rock as if I could somehow dissolve myself into the mountain. Everything feels like it’s moving—the rock, the ground, the air—all conspiring together, pushing me toward that void (more…)
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Off to Whitney…
Off to Whitney to try to redo a climb that got canceled last June when a surprise snowstorm blew in over the Sierra. This time looks like a go. I’ll be carrying a record number of cameras for the trip, including two HD video cams (three if you count my new D5000), so I hope to be able to put together the most media-rich trip report ever when I get back. If all goes well. 
No updates ’till next week, so have a great weekend.
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Whitney Fatality
A female climber was killed Saturday night or early Sunday morning while descending the Mountaineer’s Route with a group of several others on Mount Whitney. At this time there seems to be an almost total lack of confirmed information about the incident. Sketchy reports from persons in the area were briefly available on the Whitney Portal Store message board. Unfortunately, due to the forum owner’s policy regarding fatal accidents, that thread has been deleted (more…)
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Idiot’s Guide to Lone Pine Peak
Well, with a title like this, how can you resist? If I’m reading this correctly, these guys were attempting a winter ascent of Lone Pine Peak’s Northeast Ridge—a Big Route, by any standard. The interesting thing is that nowadays with forums and digital cameras, you get to read first person accounts not just when people successfully summit, but also when things go awry and SAR is called. Also don’t miss this: a bonus Trip Report addendum posted by the climber’s girlfriend.
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Falling Headfirst Down an Ice Cliff
Blame it on Chamonix—exposure to the big mountains of the French Alps made a big impression on me. I bought a Charlet-Moser axe and crampons, intending to incorporate the tools in my backcountry skiing when I got home. That axe and crampons stayed in the closet until our local ski area, the Arizona Snow Bowl, closed for the season (more…)
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LA Climber Among K2 Survivors
On August 1, 2008, Hermosa Beach climber Nicholas Rice awoke after a freezing night at Camp IV and made his way to just below the “Bottleneck”. Rice, 23, was attempting to climb K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, widely considered one of the world’s most difficult summit (and one of the most deadly) (more…)
