Climbing Narcissist » Donation

2009 Access Fund Prize Pack Winners

Narc — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:20:01 +0000

Thanks to the over 150 of you that entered the recent Access Fund Prize Pack contest!

Without further delay on my part, the randomly selected winners were Omar, Bert and Brandon. Congrats! Check your email for further instructions.

I’d like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who entered and to everyone that visits this site. It really means a lot that this site continues to grow the way that it has.

If you didn’t win, it’s not too late to get a Holiday Pack from the Access Fund for yourself or someone you know that needs the gift of Access. And remember, any and all ad revenue from the site goes to access causes like this!

2009 Access Fund Prize Pack Winners from Climbing Narcissist

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News & Notes – 07/13/2009

Narc — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:44:50 +0000

Vikki Weldon has done the likely first female ascent of Divison Bell (5.13d) at Squamish, BC.
U.S. Olympic coach Jimi Raymond Flowers was killed in a fall descending Capitol Peak, a tough 14,000+ ft. peak in Colorado.
The always exciting Mammut Bouldering Championships at the Summer Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City kicks off next Monday (yes, Monday). Scheduled to compete are big hitters Alex Johnson, Alex Puccio, Daniel Woods, Paul Robinson and Chris Sharma. Then again, Sharma was scheduled to compete in this past weekend’s lead climbing World Cup in Chamonix and did not show.

A preview of the comp wall

Speaking of the World Cup in Chamonix, Paige Claassen was the only American participant, finishing in 37th place.
Sean McColl discusses his experience at the climbing World Championships held recently in China
John Bachar climbing timeline
Video of Kornelius Obleitner on the 3rd ascent of Anam Cara (V15) at Silvretta, Austria
Spraylords, the next movie from Spencer Victory looks…interesting
The 5th Annual Johnny and Alex Trail Day focused on building and maintaining trails in the Red River Gorge’s Pendergrass-Murray Recreational Preserve is coming up on August 1st. If you can’t attend, donations are a worthy substitute. ClimbingNarc.com donated $100 to the event bringing our total donations to climbing causes to $775.

In personal climbing news, I had an excellent day at Devil’s Lake yesterday where we got 7 leads in before calling it a day. I engaged in some reckless bold behavior by doing my hardest trad lead using a pair of borrowed shoes on a route with iffy gear that I didn’t practice ahead of time. I botched the sequence high above my last (and pretty much only) trustworthy piece, and I was forced to downclimb a few moves before punching it to the top. Terrifying and exhilarating at the same time…

News & Notes – 07/13/2009 from Climbing Narcissist

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Donation Update

Narc — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:33:35 +0000

One of the most rewarding aspects of running this site is the ability to give back to the climbing community. Thanks to the support of ads on the site, we have been able to donate $100 to the RRGCC, $200 toward the purchase of Yellow Bluff, $75 to the Access Fund and $100 to Friends Of Muir Valley. All tiny drops in the bucket to be sure, but every little bit helps. Remember, 100% of ad revenue is donated to climbing access issues.

A few weeks back, our local climbing gym held a dyno comp that also doubled as a fundraiser for the RRGCC. Since most kids are broke, ClimbingNarc.com ended up “sponsoring” several people in the event. In order to keep the numbers clean, I rounded the donation amount up to $100. This brings the total amount of money donated to climbing causes to $675 in just over two years of operating this website. Again, nothing major but every little bit helps.

Thus far, the majority of the access causes we have donated to have been predominantly areas we visit like the Red River Gorge. If you know of an access cause in your area that could use a hundred bucks every once in a while, please let us know.

On a related note, there was an interesting discussion on 8a.nu recently about access issues and media’s responsibility to support such causes. 8a announced at the last minute that they were going to use the last page of the 2008 8a.nu yearbook to focus on access issues. This is a good thing of course, but as usual 8a founder Jens Larsen couldn’t help but say something inflammatory. Larsen got off a nice blast during the course of the discussion when he said:

Compared to other magazines we are much better setting the environment and Access in focus.

Several people took proper exception to this by pointing out the vast sums of money and attention donated by climbing magazines and gear manufacturers to access causes. One only has to look at the ongoing Anchor Replacement Initiative for a great example of media and gear entities making a real difference. Ads for the Access Fund are prominently featured in just about every magazine you pick up in the U.S. Compared to 1 page at the back of a yearly book that has limited market saturation, climbing magazines are way out in front.

Like any climbing media entity, a site like 8a.nu has a potentially negative impact on access issues as Mick Ryan rightly points out:

As a climbing media – internet, guidebook, magazine – you first have to admit to yourself that what you do will increase impacts at cliffs and that you will attract people to cliffs who may behave badly and threaten access.

8a does do a nice job of posting some access alerts on their news page, but the scope of their database is really much larger than a few well known areas having problems. My hope is that in the future 8a will continue to utilize their impressive online presence to focus on access issues in a meaningful and constructive way. The last page of the yearbook is a good start, but I think 8a could (and should) be doing more.

Donation Update from Climbing Narcissist

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Alabama’s Crag X Update

Narc — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:10:19 +0000

A few weeks back I posted about a secret crag that the Southeastern Climber’s Coalition was attempting to purchase. At the time, the name of the crag was being withheld until plans were finalized. At the Triple Crown event at the Stone Fort it was revealed that the area being purchased is a sport and trad climbing crag called Yellow Bluff. Yellow Bluff is located 20 minutes from Huntsville, AL which is located in north central Alabama for those following at home.

With the name of the crag revealed, fundraising kicked into overdrive. In just a few weeks, the SCC managed to raise all $35,000 needed to purchase Yellow Bluff with additional money still coming in. I am happy to say that we were part of the process as well in that we were able to make a sizable donation with money raised through the ads on this website. Congrats to the SCC! Keep up the great work guys.

Access Fund Prize Pack Winner

Narc — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:30:05 +0000

Last week’s Access Fund Price Pack contest was a big success. There were over 60 entries with 34 of you picking Kate McGinnis to win. Despite an impressive win at the Stone Fort comp by Alex Johnson, McGinnis was indeed the overall series champion as many of you predicted.

Without further delay, the winner of the contest is Cannud. Congratulations!

Major thanks to everyone who entered! If you didn’t win, you could always do something crazy like buy yourself or someone you know an Access Fund Holiday Prize Pack. If you aren’t an Access Fund member, what are you waiting for? They are working to keep your favorite crags open!

On a side note, this brings the total amount of money donated as a result of ad revenue from Climbingarc.com to $275 with another $200 donation coming soon. Thanks to everyone for their support!

Access Fund Prize Pack Winner from Climbing Narcissist

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Muir Valley

Narc — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:26:39 +0000

Muir Valley, for those that don’t know, is a sport climbing area in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge. However, calling it a sub-area of the RRG is somewhat misleading as it is actually an entire destination unto itself. Spread over 400 acres of beautiful land and home to over 250 routes (and growing), it has quickly become one of the most popular places for climbers to visit since it opened a few years back.

How did Muir Valley come to be you might ask? How did climbers become so fortunate as to have 400 acres on which to develop some of the better routes at the Red? It is all thanks to the land owners Rick & Liz Weber. Despite common climber/private landowner problems like crapping, cussing, dogs, and a sometimes familiar sense of entitlement from climbers, they have always strived to make Muir Valley a safe, fun place for people to climb at…almost entirely at their own expense.

The road to Muir Valley recently needed some maintenance to protect the majority of safe drivers from a select few who made the single lane road their rally race playground. In fact, one of the neighbor’s of Muir Valley was struck by a car while riding his horse! The Weber’s quickly took action by closing the area for a brief period to revamp the road…at their own expense presumably. Fortunately the work went quickly and Muir Valley is now re-opened.

With this recent news in mind, and climbingnarc.com money burning a hole in our pockets, Mrs. Narc and I sent off a $100 donation to the Friends Of Muir Valley to show our appreciation as well. If you are someone that has frequented Muir Valley over the years, consider making a small donation to FOMV to show your appreciation. And while you’re at it, check out the newly redesigned Red River Gorge Climber’s Coalition website, and help out with a donation to preserve access to the 750 acre Pendergrass-Murray Recreational Preserve.

Remember, any ad revenue donated by ads located throughout this site will continue to be donated to causes such as this. If you know of causes that could use donations in increments of $100 (along with some publicity) please let me know. It doesn’t just have to be the Red River Gorge either.

Speaking of the Red. If you are in the greater Red River Gorge area next week, keep an eye out for this guy. Ask him how he can help you improve your trip packing methods!

Muir Valley from Climbing Narcissist

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RRGCC Donation

Narc — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 13:05:28 +0000

Thanks to everyone who has visited this site and supported my sponsors. Thanks to you I was recently able to make a donation in the amount of $100 to the Red River Gorge Climbers’ Coaltion. 2007 was a good year for the RRGCC thanks mostly to the Petzl Roctrip which raised over $32,000 towards the purchase of the incredible Pendergrass-Murray Recreational Preserve but there is a lot more work to be done. We are over halfway towards another $100 for the PMRP so keep it up! Remember that all ad revenue goes directly towards climbing access.

RRGCC Donation from Climbing Narcissist

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