Climbing Narcissist » Momentum Video Magazine

‘Made In China’ Featuring Chris Sharma Now Playing At MVM

Narc — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:30:14 +0000

After teasing us with a few shorts, MomentumVM has begun releasing (somewhat) longer videos from Chris Sharma’s recent trip to Yangshuo, China. The first segment can be viewed at this link (provided you are logged in), and it features Sharma on one of the hard projects he bolted.

Unfortunately, the pace of updates at MVM has slowed considerably the last few months and the stream of contributors has seemingly dried up. This isn’t entirely unexpected, but I have thoroughly enjoyed MVM these past two years so it is my hope that it finds a way to continue.

In other news, check out this mysterious Organic shirt wearing boulderer I captured flying through the Midwest yesterday…

‘Made In China’ Featuring Chris Sharma Now Playing At MVM from Climbing Narcissist

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Stone Alliance Film Tour Trailer

Narc — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 11:14:29 +0000

You seemingly can’t release a climbing movie these days without an accompanying film tour, and the Stone Alliance Film Tour seeks to take it to the next level by featuring 3 movies in one tour. Comprised of Masters Of Stone VI from Eric Perlman, The Players from BS Productions and Herakleia from MVM, the tour should not dissapoint.

Here is what Brian Solano has to say about the tour on his blog:

The Stone Alliance Film Tour represents the spirit of cooperation and mutual respect that climbers have long shared with each other in our love of the natural world and the sport that connects us with it. The StoneAlliance Film Tour is the cooperative effort of three great directors on three separate films. We extend an open invitation to climbing filmmakers everywhere in future seasons.

Our premier shows will be held in Boulder, Co and Salt Lake City, Ut on March 11. We have a big schedule of additional shows all around the world to follow. Check www.StoneAllianceTour.com for showtimes and ticket info, as new shows are being added daily.

Here is the tour trailer:

2009 Stone Alliance Film Tour from Brian Solano on Vimeo.

Stone Alliance Film Tour Trailer from Climbing Narcissist

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Chris Sharma Esperanza (V14) Video On MVM

Narc — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:46:09 +0000

The Momentum Video Magazine has posted a clip from Best Of The West of Chris Sharma repeating Fred Nicole’s Hueco Tanks testpiece Esperanza (V14). First climbed in 2001, Esperanza is (by my count) one of the most repeated V14′s in the United States. Beyond the climbing being impressive to watch, the clip sparked a couple of questions in my mind.

First, Esperanza is yet another example of Fred Nicole’s amazing vision and talent. Off the top of my head, I am unable to think of any V14 or harder problems in Hueco that were not first climbed by Fred. Why that is, I have no idea. Is everyone busy trying to repeat all of Fred’s hard problems or is there nothing harder out there? Are the regulations getting in the way of exploration?

Chris Sharma sending Esperanza (V14)

Second, I noticed that Esperanza doesn’t top out which got me to thinking: how important is it for a problem to top out? In a lot of cases the top out on a problem is not all that difficult, yet it feels like an integral part of the bouldering experience. Since bouldering is a fairly contrived activity in the first place, topping out seems like a requirement for a problem to be a true classic. Then again, the contrived nature of bouldering also means that we often climb any of the climbable surface on a boulder, even if it doesn’t lead us to the top. I’m confused…

Chris Sharma Esperanza (V14) Video On MVM from Climbing Narcissist

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10 Videos You Might Have Missed In The Momentum Video Magazine Archives

Narc — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:32:00 +0000

Since the Momentum Video Magazine relaunched last year with a premium section, many of you who were not down with paying the monthly fee missed out on most of the higher quality videos. Now that MVM has “gone free”, the entire archives section is open for your perusal. Given that the archives are so big, I thought I would go through them and pick out 10 of my favorite videos from the last year. In no particular order, here they are:

Note: It helps if you are logged in to MVM before you click on any of these links. If you need to register, click here.

Footage from the Big Up Vault of Dave Graham climbing in RMNP back in 2000/2001 – (Video)
Chris Linder on the FA of All Around Routine (5.14b) in Ibex, UT - (Video)
Dave Graham and Ethan Pringle working Chris Sharma’s Clark Mountain project - (Video)
James Litz on the FA of Warpath (V15?) - (Video)
Vasya Vorotnikov on the FA of Jaws II (5.15a) at Rumney, NH - (Video)
Kevin Jorgeson doing two highball FA’s in Hueco Tanks, TX - (Video)
Paul Robinson on the second ascent of Fred Nicole’s Terremer (V15) in Hueco Tanks, TX – (Video)
Matt Wilder showcasing Yosemite bouldering including Shadow Warrior (V12) - (Video)
Daniel Woods on the FA of In Search of Time Lost (V15) in Magic Wood, Switzerland – (Video)
Nalle Hukkataival doing several hard problems at Mt. Evans, CO including a flash of No More Greener Grasses (V12) - (Video)

If there is a video you liked that isn’t on the list, feel free to share it in the comments.

10 Videos You Might Have Missed In The Momentum Video Magazine Archives from Climbing Narcissist

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MVM Going Free This Week

Narc — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:52:51 +0000

Last week it was confirmed officially on the MVM site that the paid premium section would be going away by the first week of September (as I had reported back in July). I for one can’t wait to see what they come up with for their newest rollout. There are many things I would like to see, however my secret wish is for more old school footage from back in the 90’s. I guess the non-HD nature of the old footage would apparently disqualify it though? What are you hoping to see now that you don’t have to sweat actually paying for anything??

MVM Going Free This Week from Climbing Narcissist

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Momentum Video Magazine Switching To A Free Format

Narc — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:03:00 +0000

I think a model based more heavily on advertising revenue and less on subscription fees would increase traffic and might work out better for all parties involved.

That is what I said at the end of my review of the Momentum Video Magazine premium area last December. If you haven’t already heard, the Momentum Video Magazine is dropping their premium section and making the entire site free of charge. Non-paying customers will no longer see scaled down or preview versions of clips. It’s not that the subscription fee was ever exorbitant by any stretch, but I think that this will no doubt please many that balked at the idea of paying for online climbing videos. Obviously there are still other ways the site can improve (shared embeddable videos?), but I think that this is a step in the right direction.

The change is scheduled to take place starting September 1, and if you have 1 year paid subscription that extends past that date you will be given a prorated refund. No new subscriptions will be taken starting August 1. There will also be some new features added that have yet to be revealed so stay tuned to Climbingnarc.com for more details.

If you are wondering what you will be getting once the premium section is free to everyone check out the free preview at MVM. Also read my review of the premium section from last December (and a follow-up post) for more in depth information.

Momentum Video Magazine Switching To A Free Format from Climbing Narcissist

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Nalle Hukkataival Mt. Evans Video At MVM

Narc — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:27:59 +0000

If you never checked out the premium section of the Momentum Video Magazine, now might be a good time to do so. They have video of Nalle Hukkataival climbing the following problems at Mt. Evans, CO: Clear Blue Skies (V12, 2nd go), Mental Masturbation (V12, 2nd go), No More Greener Grasses (V12, flash), Super Gui (V11, 2nd go), Silverback (V11) and Ode To The Modern Man (V14).

Nalle Hukkataival Mt. Evans Video At MVM from Climbing Narcissist

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Perfecto World Premier Tonight

Narc — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:42:19 +0000

Perfecto, a new Mike Call movie featuring Deep Water Soloing and Sport Climbing on the Spanish island of Mallorca premiers tonight in Golden, CO. More details are available at FRB, and you can catch a trailer at MVM. Proceeds from tonight’s premier benefit a primary school near South Africa’s Rocklands.

Perfecto World Premier Tonight from Climbing Narcissist

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News & Notes – 05/13/2008

Narc — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:18:24 +0000

I have another interesting topic for discussion tomorrow, but in the meantime here are a few links for your perusal:

If you enjoy salivating over the posts at the Betabase blog, you should consider checking out the blog of Justin Alarcon. In this post, he spends the day bouldering in The Valley with Beth Rodden and Tommy Caldwell. Cool stuff.
For those that have read Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, you might want to check out the Frontline documentary on PBS tonight entitled “Storm Over Everest”. In the documentary, David Breashears & others present during the 1996 tragedy on Mt. Everest return to recount what happened on that fateful day. It airs from 8 pm to 10 pm CST.

Speaking of David Breashears, FRB has a great interview up with an old climbing partner of his, Steve Mammen. Steve has some great stories to share about climbing in the Frontrange back in the 1970′s including his seconding of the Eldorado Canyon fright-fest Perilous Journey after Breashears got the FA. He also has insights on what it feels like to climb at age 50 that make me feel like my clock is ticking…
Daniel Woods is really cranking things up as his trip to Europe apparently comes to an end. His most recent success at Magic Wood, Switzerland was his link of Dave Graham’s V11/12 Left Hand of Darkness into his own recently opened Remembrance of Things Past (V14) to create In Search Of Time Lost (V15). These ascents bring his total of V11 or harder problems to an astounding 60 over his 6 month stay in Europe! 11 of these ascents were V14 or harder! Jamie Emerson has a bit more background.

Photo: David Pearson

Paul Robinson recently added a V13 he calls Mendax to the Veritas boulder at RMNP. You can see a few pictures of Paul climbing Veritas at the Sock Hands blogsite. You can see videos of 3 of the 6 notable Veritas boulder problems at the RMNP video page.
The newly redesigned Allclimbing has a nice review of the Revolution UZI crash pad.
Also via Allclimbing is a post about the plastic used in Nalgene water bottles. Frankly, I just find the whole situation confusing. What, out of the things we use each day, isn’t going to kill us?
Momentum Video Magazine Volume 3 is now available on DVD.
Joe Kinder has another nice interview up at MVM, this time with Emily Harrington.
Carlo Traversi has posted a few photos of his new V12 at Clear Creek Canyon called Paths of Glory.
PlanetMountain has a recap of last weekend’s Melloblocco event that was unsurprisingly won by Adam Ondra (see below) and Barbara Zangerl.

Photo: Giulio Malfer

If someone could please translate this Dave Graham pro blog into English that would be helpful
I climbed last night! And it went pretty well! Ahh yes, the spring season is upon us! Oh wait….I’m having surgery again next Monday…time to set sights on that potential trip to the Frontrange for Labor Day…

News & Notes – 05/13/2008 from Climbing Narcissist

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MomentumVM: Warpath, Fred Nicole & Ty Landman

Narc — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:45:18 +0000

It has been a week or two of good videos over at the Momentum Video Magazine…if you are a premium subscriber:

Going back to last week, there was some renewed buzz about James Litz’s unrepeated V14ish problem Warpath at the City Of Rocks, ID when Ty Landman and Jamie Emerson paid a visit. Ty put in some good work on the full problem while Jamie sent the initial section which is a V11 in its own right called Jared’s Roof. You can see the footage of Jamie climbing Jared’s Roof in the free area of MVM. Remember that you can still see the full footage of James on the FA of the problem in the archives of the MVM Premium Section. It is still probably one of the best problems in the entire archives, it looks that good.
Next up is footage of Isaac Caldiero repeating Dave Graham’s Cloverland (V13) in Moe’s Valley (no excavation required). Good stuff.
Alex Puccio and Giovanni Traversi in Joe’s Valley which was ok.
Fred Nicole, yes THE Fred Nicole, bouldering in Colorado with Chuck Fryberger. The free version shows him climbing the iconic Ripper Traverse (see below) while the premium area also shows him climbing at Little Owl Canyon and Newlin Creek. Can’t wait to see when Fred gets to some of the modern alpine areas.

And most recently is the footage of Ty Landman crushing LCC. The free version gives you him climbing Sharma’s Spinal Twist (V13). The premium version shows him crushing Maisch Roof (V11) and Dominatrix (V12/13). Again, really good stuff although no footage of the Bully flash which was disappointing.

If you aren’t a subscriber and want to find out more information, you should check out my review of the MVM Premium Section along with my follow-up post.

Look for footage coming soon to MVM of Dave Graham climbing The Island (V15) and Daniel Woods climbing Remembrance of Things Past (V14 or 15?), both from Chad Greedy.

MomentumVM: Warpath, Fred Nicole & Ty Landman from Climbing Narcissist

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