by Tom Markiewicz on June 24, 2009
If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Rick from Cremnomaniac has complied a nice list of trad climbing techniques, tricks, and tips.
Trad climbing has lost some of its appeal, or is a smaller blip on the radar. I still know plenty of folks that prefer trad, but [...]
by Tom Markiewicz on March 27, 2009
Pimpin and Crimpin has a hilarious post up on the accessorized trad climber. Check it out and I guarantee you’ll laugh!
Duct Tape: For some reason that I will never understand, trad climbers have an affinity for duct tape that is almost as creepy as a mustachioed man winking at five year olds. What they do [...]
by Tom Markiewicz on March 23, 2009
In the first part of this series, I questioned whether traditional climbing magazines can still thrive or will we see a faster migration to online only publications?
Peter Beal and Dougald MacDonald both have some interested perspectives on this issue and I’d like to expand further on the topic.
Personally, I still enjoy reading climbing magazines. [...]
by Tom Markiewicz on March 12, 2009
Late last year my wife and I bought a house in Colorado and we went through all the normal stressful steps accompanying it. At one point during the process, I received a return phone call from my real estate agent from an unusual place - he was climbing the Third Flatiron!
Now my first jealous thought [...]
by Tom Markiewicz on March 10, 2009
Chuck Fryberger offers up some insight on climbing great Fred Nicole.
Should I even write about Fred? I’ve been bouldering avidly for 14 years and I still feel under-qualified to try to write any sort of authoritative article about him. I’ve slept on his floor on trips to Switzerland, I’ve shot footage and pictures of him, [...]
by Tom Markiewicz on February 27, 2009
I’ve been struggling with some climbing injuries recently and finally decided to visit a sports medicine doctor highly recommended by a friend. My issues were a recurring finger injury at the base of my right ring finger and pain in my elbows and thumbs. He rather quickly diagnosed the elbows/thumbs as flexor tendinitis and set [...]
by Tom Markiewicz on February 26, 2009
ESPN The Magazine profiles ice climber Will Gadd.
Gadd stands at the base of the 40-foot-high frozen waterfall and looks up. He kicks footholds with his crampons and swings his axes overhead, driving the points deep into the ice. He pulls with his arms and pushes with his legs, then kicks his feet and swings the [...]
by Tom Markiewicz on February 12, 2009
Today’s guest post is from Jenn Fields, who writes at http://www.jennfields.com.
I wasn’t sure what I’d get out of a weekend of ice climbing just with girls, because I’ve always climbed with boys. Of course I’d come away with sore shoulders, bigger calves and more mad girl-climbing skills, but what else would be on the table [...]
by Tom Markiewicz on January 29, 2009
Even though the ice is still not fat everywhere, it is definitely ice climbing season in many areas. Black Diamond has a good video tutorial on how to get prepared and sharpen your ice screws.
by Tom Markiewicz on January 22, 2009
The American Alpine Institute points out a series of videos by Canadian climbing guide Mike Barter on the pre-equalization on anchors:
There is a little bit of controversy over pre-equalized anchors. Some feel that one leg of the anchor will get more force than another, which means that such an anchor could never be fully equalized. [...]
by Tom Markiewicz on October 29, 2008
When I lived in the Washington DC area, one of the (few) benefits was being able to get cheap flights on Southwest to New Hampshire. This allowed us to take trips for ice climbing in the White Mountains.
I attended the Mt. Washington Valley Ice Festival numerous times and had a blast. The ice climbing there [...]
by Tom Markiewicz on February 22, 2008
TreeHugger has an interesting interview with the founder of Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard.