Before we get to the news spraydown there are several lingering access related issues I’ve been meaning to post about:
- Last year Draper’s Bluff in southern Illinois was closed to climbing due to changes in liability laws for private landownders in the state. Legislation is currently under consideration that would restore protections to landowners, and the Illinois Climbers Association has information posted on their site about how you can write letters of support whether you’re a resident of Illinois or not.
- The Bureau of Land Management has banned climbing on 400 acres near Castle Rocks State Park in Idaho (Access Fund)
- Muir Valley, an extremely popular sub-sector of the Red River Gorge, could use your help (especially in light of the recent flooding that took place over the weekend).
- Red Rocks outside Las Vegas, NV is facing the possibility of some urban sprawl (Access Fund). If anyone has a more recent update on this please let me know in the comments.
- A portion of the Southeast Face of El Capitan has been closed until at least August 1st (Touchstone Climbing)
- Petzl and the Access Fund are teaming up to release the Petzl All Access DVD. For $10 you get a DVD loaded with 10 short climbing clips with all proceeds going to the Access Fund. You can get a copy at either the Access Fund Store or on Mountain Gear (although I don’t see it listed on either right now). Here is the list of segments being featured:
- Catching Reality – Emil Sergel
- Hey Presto – Paul Diffley, Hot Aches Productions
- Infinity Lane – TLC Productions
- Medeoz – Guillaume Broust
- PURE: Sonoma County with Kevin Jorgeson – Chuck Fryberger
- Steph Davis – Sender Films
- Steve McClure, Hubble – Ben Pritchard
- Weeks Before Winter, featuring Chris Sharma – Mike Call
- Plus a bonus film, Blind and Naked, by Cedar Wright, and an Access Fund message from Big Up Productions’ Josh Lowell.
News…
- Adam Ondra recently made a trip to England to sample some of the well known limestone sport routes found at Kilnsey and Malham Cove, and he experienced a level of success that is almost not surprising at this point. In the matter of just a few days he managed to onsight a handful of 5.13d’s and redpoint 2 Steve McClure 5.14d’s Northern Lights and Northstar. He was stymied by McClure’s unrepeated Overshadow (5.15a) for which he has vowed to return. You can check out some photos from his trip at the blog of Keith Sharples. Via Planetmountain is this video which shows Steve McClure climbing at Malham Cove:
- B3Bouldering reports that Jimmy Webb has made a quick 1 day ascent of Suspension Of Disbelief (V13) in Eldorado Canyon, CO for the problem’s 3rd ascent. First done by Dave Graham in 2005, Suspension only saw a second ascent after several days of work by Daniel Woods.
- Following up on last week’s post on Dai Koyamada’s trip to Switzerland is news that Koyamada repeated Remembrance of Things Past (V14). Remembrance was first done by Daniel Woods who then went back and added a lower start that became In Search Of Time Lost (V15).
- 52 year-old Stevie Haston redpointed Hugh (5.14d) at Les Eaux Claire, France. UKClimbing has a nice timeline that follows the progression of Haston’s long climbing career.
… And Notes
- Jon Cardwell checks in with the Petzl Blog to detail his recent experiences living in Europe
- Joe Kinder has had a really interesting and funny series of posts lately covering the odd jobs he’s had over the years as a vagabond climber. Check out his posts titled Some Of My Random Jobs, Cell Phone Radiation Assembly Line, Dishwasher and Game Meat Sales.
- Dave MacLeod reposted an excellent, long and very detailed essay he wrote on pulley injuries. A must read even if it is a bit technical for the average reader.
- Via the Lloyd’s blog is this excellent article about the climbing around Lander, WY, a place I’m very excited to be visiting again this summer for a very brief 1 day stop during our trip out west.
- I got a chance to try out the new Red River Gorge iPhone app last weekend and overall it worked extremely well. I have to say it was really nice to simply pull my phone out of my pocket to walk around the crag and look for routes. There are some issues though, most of which have been highlighted in this post at RedRiverClimbing. Fortunately the digital platform makes correcting problems relatively easy. Here’s a short video put together by the publisher that highlights some features of the app:
From the Dave McLeod article on pulley injuries:
“The authors note that most subjects who had consulted health professionals following their injuries reported a lack of appreciation by professionals for the demands of climbing on the body, and little help with diagnosis or treatment prescription.”
STILL THE CASE! There are climbing gyms everywhere these days, and I think it’s safe to say climbing isn’t the fringe sport it once may have been. Hand doctors need to start writing some articles in their journals and wake their colleagues up to the fact that climbers put some serious stress on their fingers, and the injuries are real.
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That line really stuck out to me as well and closely matches pretty much every experience I’ve had trying to explain one of my injuries to a Dr.
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The All Access DVD is now showing available in the Access Fund Store.
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Sweet ordered the DVD and got a R&I subscription free. Says 48 free subscriptions still left.
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jimmy webb is straight up one to look out for. kid STACKS fa’s like none other.
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Looks like the DVD is sold out now 🙁
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Already?? Hopefully they will be making more.
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