Deep water soloing banned at Summersville Lake

May 31, 2007

The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (who built many of the man made lakes in this country) has banned cliff jumping and diving on all of its managed recreation property in the Huntington District in West Virginia. This area includes the popular Summersville Lake climbing area. Apparently, at least one climber called the office listed below and confirmed that the ban includes deep water soloing.

The rule that specifically bans deep water soloing is “Entering the lake from a height greater than one’s own is always prohibited.”

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Popularity: 24% [?]

Scandinavian Mountaineering site

May 27, 2007

A new, very polished site was pointed out to me that covers Scandinavian mountains over 2000 meters. The site contains detailed information including climbing and walking routes, high quality photos, and a lot of info on the area.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Build your own climbing gym padding

May 26, 2007

The Bouldering Guide blog has a useful post on building your own padding for indoor climbing walls.

Popularity: 10% [?]

New River Rendezvous 2007 Recap

May 25, 2007

Another great New River Rendezvous is over and I survived. The emphasis was on survival this year especially after the free beer did not run out early as I expected. Note to self - don’t try to consume as much as possible next year!

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I didn’t take any pictures of the happenings at Burnwood (as I forgot my camera in the car), but my wife and I were able to take a bunch of pictures as we competed with Jon B. during the bouldering comp at Interp and the OUL areas. The full set of pics are on Flickr here.

I entered the bouldering comp just for fun as I knew it would just push me a little bit harder all day. Jon, Kelly, and I started at Interp and made our way through the circuit to finish at OUL (with a quick pass by the Tugging Shacks at day end). Again survival was key as I pulled off a big hold on a V2 called Curley at Interp. From a sit-down start, you basically have to mantle up to a crimp then bump up to a jug. As I grabbed the jug, it popped off and hit me in the head as I fell to my crash pad. No blood, so I guess I was fine. Nice way to start the morning. I decided to not push my luck and moved on so I’m not sure how much harder the problem became with the missing hold.

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For more New River Rendezvous reports, check out YourClimbing.com

Popularity: 6% [?]

Heading to the New River Rendezvous

May 18, 2007

Getting ready to head out for the New River Rendezvous this weekend. Look for a full report next week. I’ll be taking lots of pictures.

Popularity: 6% [?]