Social Media and Sponsored Athletes

Though I started climbing and guiding in the Sierra in 2009, it took another year for me to begin sampling our famous couloirs. In the fall of 2010 I saw the Reel Rock Film Tour and was really delighted with the movie The Swiss Machine. One of the final scenes features aerial footage of Ueli Steck motoring up one of the last sections of the North Face of The Eiger while the song "Welcome Home Son" plays. It's cool cinematography paired really well with music for an inspiring movie moment.

I downloaded the song. Less than a week later I climbed the North Couloir of North Peak. I had never climbed the route before and there was a chance I might be guiding it in the near future. I'm not proud to admit it, but during the more fun bits of climbing on the route I had the song on repeat on my iPod. In the moment I was Ueli, moving freely and efficiently.

Recently, a friend called my attention to an article on Outside Online entitled, "Is Social Media Screwing Over Explorers?" The article talks about the fact that some outdoor brands are dropping their sponsored athletes for less skilled but more social-media-savvy representatives who "tell stories that resonate with the average user". It makes a lot of sense, if the point of sponsoring people is to spread the word about the brand and it's products, to throw money and product at the story tellers who will do that best.

I hope we don't stop getting stories from top climbers and skiers. I love reading these stories and think that there will always be a place for them. Stories of pedestrian "adventure" just don't inspire me in the same way. Think about your favorite adventure tale, it's probably not about something that you or I could do right now.

Leading athletes are pushing the limits of our pursuits. Though the story tellers produce content that I enjoy consuming, they are not moving our "sports" forward. I want top athletes to have support from companies I patronize so that they can continue to do what they do. What they do benefits me.

Epics from athletes at the top of their game inspire me to work harder when I'm training and show me what's possible when I'm on the climb. In a way reading stories, seeing photos, and viewing video of these top practitioners helps make us all better. You can't see it in the Swiss Machine, but when Ueli is charging up those slopes he's dragging all of us behind him.

Blue Diamond Ridge

Less than a week ago I got home from Red Rocks. I always make a trip there at this time of year for the Red Rock Rendezvous, and I try to incorporate some other guiding work and some personal climbing too.

This year Jess and I went down for a few days of climbing to kick off my trip. Amongst other routes, we climbed Burlesque in Icebox Canyon. I have rapped down this four pitch route on every time I've guided Frigid Air Buttress, as it's part of the standard descent. The massive flake on pitch three has been something I've wanted to climb ever since I first rapped past it.

It was a rather windy Saturday when we left the truck, but the winds abated as we got into the amphitheater below the route, and we didn't have to worry about the crowds on an old fashioned route known for it's wide climbing. The route itself was a fun adventure. Pitch two featured some fun crack climbing on great varnish, and the flake didn't disappoint. It starts as an offwidth and widens to a comfy squeeze chimney. The belay has great views down into the chimney. All in all a good route for any crack climbing aficionado or connoisseur of Red Rocks trad.

Then Jess took off and I had a fun week of guiding that included The Rendezvous. It was while driving to the event one morning a number of years ago that I first noticed the Blue Diamond Ridge. Morning light accentuates this line on Mount Wilson; as the sun makes its way across the sky it blends in with the Basin Wall behind. There's not a ton of beta out there on this route but everyone I spoke to talked about the Equalizer pitch, a notorious 5.9 lead where the only pro is two cams that are equalized part way up.

This event always brings a lot of my colleagues to the area, and every year that route comes up in conversation. It always goes something like, "Hey I'm looking for a partner for Blue Diamond Ridge...but you've got to lead the Equalizer pitch". I may have even been guilty of uttering those words myself. Over the years I've learned that some legendary pitches aren't all they're cracked up to be and I started wondering if the Equalizer was really that bad. This year I talked to my colleague Chad about the route and when I asked him if he was interested, I made sure to mention that I would be happy to lead the Equalizer. He was interested, and also was interested in leading the famous pitch. We decided that we would take the route as it came and whoever happened to be in front would take that lead.

Almost done with the approach.

A couple of days after the event we found ourselves walking away from my truck by headlamp. Pretty soon we were on an old dirt road that cuts across the desert directly toward the gully that leads to the base of the route. The dirt road peters out before it reaches Mount Wilson and after some cross country travel we picked up cairns that led us into the gully. Some fifth class climbing had us tightening our approach shoe laces and chalking up. The gully passes by a nice looking crag with varnished cracks that forms the proper toe of the ridge. This remote zone probably deserves a visit of it's own, if the climbing is half as good as it looks. After some ogling we followed the gully into the bowl between the ridge and The Basin Wall and then angled over onto the ridge where we took a long snack break at a big cairn.

I found some beta written by the first ascensionist at rockclimbing.com. He mentioned a "40' splitter crack" marking the start of the route. Above us was 4th and low 5th class climbing with no splitter in sight. We put on rock shoes and got out the rack, but left the rope coiled and resumed scrambling. We spent the next couple hundred feet climbing easy terrain on the left side of the ridge, but looking for straightforward spots that would put us back on the crest. Before long we found ourselves at the base of an excellent handcrack in a corner just left of the ridge crest. Whether on route or not, there was no way we weren't going to climb this thing! So we roped up and sent it.

Chad on a fun tight-hands crack part way up the ridge.

From here the route unfolded fairly smoothly. Some of it was easy ropeless scrambling. We did some simul-climbing. We made a number of shorter pitches with the follower wearing half the rope as tied-off coils. There were some terrain belays. We also made a handful of longer pitches with anchors and everything. Maybe halfway up passed through a cool tunnel to the left side of the ridge and got a good view of the upper part of the ridge. We saw something that looked like maybe it could be the mythical Equalizer. Chad led a short pitch of offwidth in good varnish to return us to the crest and then I took over. A few easy leads found us bypassing the only real tower on the route and then stowing the rope for some fun low 5th class climbing.

Getting fired up just before the tower.

Above this I found myself standing at the base of what we were pretty sure was the Equalizer pitch with the rack clipped to my harness. Chad put me on belay and I cast off. The reputation of this pitch was in my head at first, but after a few moves I just focused on the climbing....which was very good. It was frictiony face climbing on the best white rock I've ever climbed on in Red Rock. Aside from the two equalized #1 Camalots, I also placed a small C3 and a tricam. If we had carried more small C3's and small tricams I may have been able to get more gear. The movement was enjoyable and never desperate. Chad's offwidth felt a bit harder. Partway up Chad expressed some envy that I ended up with the pitch and I promised him that he could lead the money pitch(es) next time we climbed together.

Chad nearing the end of the Equalizer.

The Equalizer ends on a big flat step where we again coiled the rope for the last few hundred feet of scrambling. And then we were on top, putting the gear away, reapplying sunscreen, and happily changing out of our sweaty rock shoes. Good descent beta from rockclimbing.com had us back in First Creek Canyon faster than the standard walk back to the limestone, so we decided that a quick lap on Black Magic was in order on the way out.

Blue Diamond Ridge is a great route, but it's not typical Red Rocks fare. It feels a lot more like an alpine rock climb than say, Resolution Arete (also on Mount Wilson). The route felt fairly casual to Chad and I because we're both very comfortable climbing on 5.9 terrain and both have a lot of alpine climbing experience. We have a lot of experience routefinding on 3rd to low 5th class terrain and managing loose rock, which abounds on the route, particularly in the easier sections. Parties with appropriate skill and experience will find this is a really fun and rewarding route and shouldn't be intimidated by its reputation.

Tom Harrison Maps in The Atlantic

Almost every backcountry trip I've ever been on started with a map. When I was first figuring out how to travel in the backcountry in New Hampshire's White Mountains, those maps came from the Appalachian Mountain Club. These days if I'm looking at a map there's a 50% chance it's on a screen: Hillmap or Google Maps on my laptop, or a GPS app displaying a USGS quadrangle on my phone.

If I'm looking at a paper map of the Sierra it's pretty much guaranteed to be a Tom Harrison map. I think the first map of his I used was for Joshua Tree National Park. They're available everywhere in the Eastern Sierra (including some gas stations) and they're much more usable than USGS quads or National Geographic maps. The Atlantic has a short interview with him on their website right now.

Lee Vining Ice Climbing Route Resource

Everybody knows that Lee Vining Canyon is the number one spot in the state of California for ice climbing. It's also a growing center for mixed cragging. Over the past few years more drytooling routes, from low angled scrappy alpine simulators to steep magazine-cover-style climbing have been established in The Narrows area on the way to the ice. Two more have already gone up this season, with bolted anchors and high quality rock.

While Mountain Project is the most up-to-date resource for the mixed climbing in Lee Vining, online route beta for the ice is more limited. I (and others) have been slowly improving the Lee Vining ice information on Mountain Project, by submitting routes and areas that are as useful as I can make them, and also by using the "Improve This Page" feature. As far as what routes are where, and how hard a given line is, the best resource might be this old page. Click on the wall you're interested in and scroll over the route names to see the line overlay on the photo. Pretty cool!

If I could figure out some way to stick that in this post I would, but it's more than just a jpeg, so it's not in my skill set right now.

Alpine Pack Review

My first review for OutdoorGearLab just went live. It's a review of alpine climbing packs and you can read it by clicking on this link.

When my editor, McKenzie, asked me to do the review I was psyched. No matter what sort of climbing is your favorite, if you're a climber you nerd out on gear a bit. Even folks who only boulder (arguably the least gear intensive type of climbing) still obsess over the right shoes and the right shoe rubber. As a climber who is pretty keen on alpine climbing and also climbs the occasional big wall, the obsession runs deep. I read on line reviews pretty much every time I purchase something. Most reviews of climbing gear seem to be (a) a regurgitation of the manufacturers marketing materials, and (b) written after only a few days of use. They're also often published in magazines in which the manufacturer advertises. I know a few folks who write/have written for various climbing periodicals and they always seemed like people of integrity to me, but that definitely fits the definition of "conflict of interest".

Glen testing (and posing) with a CiloGear WorkSack.

OutdoorGearLab does things a little differently. First of all, they pay full price for everything. No companies send them free gear and the stuff they test is the same as the stuff climbers buy off the shelf, no prototypes. After the tests they sell the gear at deep discounts at their eBay store. Second, they rarely review just a single item, instead comparing items across a category. Third, their reviews are comprehensive. Each test has three articles in addition to each individual product review. I tested 9 packs. The shortest thing I wrote, one of the product reviews, is over 600 words. The longest, what they call the "Best In Class", which is the main overview article, is over 4000 words. In total I wrote over 14,000 words, which probably doubles the number of words I've written in the last 15 years! Fourth, the testing itself is comprehensive. Each of the 9 packs had at least 20 days in the field. I also did a bunch of weighing, measuring, and photographing at home. During the height of the writing process this definitely felt like a part time job, and I was glad I was doing the writing during the quiet part of my guiding year.

Thanks to everybody who took a photo, posed for a photo, or used a pack and gave me their two cents about it. Many thanks also to me excellent editor, McKenzie Long. If you've got some time to kill at work today, or if you're in the market for a new pack, check it out.