 Tech Tip - Alpine - Hauling sense
by Matt Samet - On steep alpine free routes, where you need to have extra clothing and food along, but can’t be burdened by climbing with a heavy pack, there’s an easy albeit time-consuming solution: hauling.
 Tech Tip - Alpine - The ultimate alpine kitchen
Cooking is the art of necessity in the alpine world. Given the choice, I’d rather have linguine with sun-dried tomatoes, clams, and parmesan cheese than ramen noodles any day, especially when I’m fueling up for a big climb.
 Tech Tip - Alpine - Stayin' Alive
By Dave Sheldon - The pitches flew by on Polar Circus, our one-day Canadian Rockies winter objective. So when my partner said he’d forgotten his headlamp, I didn’t sweat it. Then, a few hours later, I dropped our shared thermos (bummer). But when my crampon’s toe bail snapped and a falling rock halved our ropes, our day climb morphed into a grovelfest replete with unplanned bivy.
 Tech Tip - Alpine - Making a point
There may be no situation more dire than slipping in a whiteout and careening down an icy, 55-degree snow slope, possibly without your axe.
 Tech Tip - Alpine - Of snowfields and glaciers
By Martin Gutmann - A descent through a whiteout is usually remembered in two ways: over a cold beer with friends or as a bestseller written by the sole survivor. In fact, descending a snowfield or crossing a glacier in a whiteout can be a complete horrorshow: the ground and the air blur into one, leaving you disoriented ...
 Gear Loopiness
No one likes fumbling with a
guidebook (or crumpled-up
Xeroxed page) on route — still,
it’s better than straying way off
line. A handy new solution: the
GEARLOOPTOPO ($2.99 per route,
gearlooptopo.com), a collection of
laminated, 4”x6” cards detailing
nearly 150 multi-pitch classics in the
US and Canada.
 Feline Grace
Although I have some years before “cougar” status, I purred for the new
LA SPORTIVA WILDCAT ($100, sportiva.com). This lightweight mountain
runner is perfect for quick approaches, cross-training trail runs,
and — my favorite — jogging into the Flatirons for a pre-work scramble.
 Tikka + 2 = Light!
Petzl invented the modern headlamp back in 1972 and has been upgrading
the technology since. Their newest offering, the PETZL TIKKA
PLUS 2 ($39.95, petzl.com), is a light (2.5oz), tough, and super-smart
headlamp that builds on the popular Tikka platform.
 Mountain Misadventures
We climbers often joke about “barely surviving” our greenhorn years, rife with silly n00b mistakes. But, as Mark Scott-Nash points out in his Colorado 14er Disasters: Victims of the Game ($16.95, bigearthpublishing.com), statistics show that the number of experienced victims rivals the novices. Turns out, plenty of other ingredients go into the disaster soup: overconfidence, summit fever, fatigue, groupthink, hypothermia.
 Norman Clyde: Legendary Mountaineer of California's Sierra Nevada
Before sticky rubber, bolts, and chalk—heck, before harnesses—Norman Clyde, wearing army boots, was bagging summits throughout the Sierra Nevadas, leading vertical rock on hip belay. “I sort of went off on a tangent from civilization and never came back,” explains Clyde in Robert Pavlik’s Norman Clyde: Legendary Mountaineer of California’s Sierra Nevada ($14.95, heydaybooks.com).
 Tahoe Adventure Film Festival 2009
South Lake Tahoe - Cinematography is the medium. Action sports and adventure is the subject. Well known as a breeding ground for elite athletes and year-round adventurers, Lake Tahoe is the stage for the 7th Annual Tahoe Adventure Film Festival to be held December 12, 2009 at Montbleu Resort Casino & Spa in South Lake Tahoe.
 Five College Outdoor Festival
The Five College Outdoor Festival is a yearly celebration of outdoor sports, wild places, and the spirit of adventure on February 26-27, 2010. Our goal is to inspire the Five College and western Massachusetts community to engage in human-powered outdoor recreation.
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 MINI EPIC: Love on the Rocks
By Joe Antol - I’ve always felt women have a special Spidey sense when it comes to their men, so why should climbers be any different? This much was proven on a perfect autumn day in September 2006 at the Gunks, during a tragicomedy on a three-pitch Trapps 5.8.
 THE BIRTH OF ALPINISM
The English Alpine Club began in 1857 - This new ‘Gentleman’s Club,’ formed by a few wealthy young men in London caused immediate interest in the Alps of Switzerland. Twenty-seven year old Leslie Stephen became one of the charter members. Having finished Cambridge, he immediately followed his ambition to conquer many Swiss glacier-laden mountains. Stephen was one of the most prominent figures in the Golden Age of Alpinism (the period between 1857 and 1875).
 Two Giants Break World Records on Kilimanjaro
The Guinness Book of World Records might soon add two giants on its lists of record breakers. Chris Waddell pedaled and Tajiri Mungaya hobbled recently to the top of the snow caped Kilimanjaro, the highest mount in Africa, becoming the first paraplegic and amputee respectively to reach the 5,895 meter summit unassisted.
 French Climb South Spur of Nemjung in Nepal
Photos by Christian Trommsdorff and Yannick Graziani - French alpinists Yannick Graziani and Christian Trommsdorff have climbed the south spur of 7,140-meter (23,425-foot) Nemjung in Nepal. The two climbed the route in a six-day round trip on October 11-16, 2009, reaching a high point of approximately 6,900 to 7,000 meters atop the south face, but they did not continue across the long easy ridge to the peak’s summit. Graziani and Trommsdorff had hoped to climb nearby Manaslu but could not acclimatize sufficiently because of too much snow and poor weather. Before starting up Nemjung, they had only three nights above 5,000 meters, followed by a 12-day period of stormy weather. READ MORE.
 Eternal Mountain Landscapes
Photos by Brooks Institute student Richard Tyler Gross / www.rtylergross.com - The images of R. Tyler Gross reflect a vision into his soul through which he invites others to share in his experience. Landscape and wildlife photography were initially what ignited the fire, what is now an eternal flame, of his photographic career. He feels that the more he can connect with the natural world, and its energy, the better he can express the undying beauty of this land and his vision. His passion for photography and the outdoors is an ongoing quest of finding the perfect balance within himself, nature, and the subject being photographed.
 2010 MUGS STUMP AWARD OPENS FOR APPLICATIONS OCTOBER 1, 2009
18th annual alpine climbing award opens grant cycle to small climbing teams with fast and light alpine objectives - Established in 1993 to honor the late alpinist Mugs Stump, the Mugs Stump Award annually awards grants to a select number of individuals and teams whose proposed climbs present an outstanding challenge - a first ascent, significant repeat, or first alpine-style ascent - with special emphasis placed on climbers leaving no trace of their passage.
 The Ultimate Guide to Digital Photography in the Mountains
Text and photos by Alexandre Buisse - In my (very biased) opinion, mountains are the most beautiful environment on the planet, and certainly a very important source of great photography. But besides their intrinsic beauty, those big stacks of rock have another attribute that makes them of special interest to imagemakers: they are inaccessible. Or rather, very difficult to access, requiring special knowledge, equipment, and physical abilities. Which means that the perspective from mountains is likely to be very unique, only having ever been seen by a very select few.
 Alaska - Unscripted - From The Alpine Briefs
In celebration of the recent Alaska mountaineering season, The Alpine Briefs presents several videos of climbing and other antics in the 49th state. Shown here are Brits Jon Bracey and Matt Helliker as they bag two new routes above the Ruth Gorge, William Finley pointing out the landmarks and Polish climbers Marek Klonowski and Tomek Mackiewicz as they traverse Mt. Logan. The Alpine Briefs is an international newsletter from the American Alpine Journal
 Ham and Eggs (V 5.9 AI4), Ruth Gorge, Alaska
With moderate climbing on a grand alpine wall, the 3,000-foot Ham and Eggs has become an entrance exam for aspiring alpinists. While the hike from the glacier was once the most dangerous part, Talkeetna Air Taxi pilot Paul Roderick in the 1990s pioneered the “Root Canal” dropoff, about 100 yards from the toe of the climb.
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