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Sport lead climbing is on the short list for the 2020 Olympics. According to Climbing Magazine, the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) met in Switzerland with the International Olympic Committee Program Commission on December 19 to make its final pitch for inclusion. Sport lead climbing is in competition with six other sports: baseball/softball, karate, roller sports, squash, wakeboarding, and wushu. A decision on the matter is expected in September 2013.
Ortovox is recalling its new 3+ avalanche transceiver because in recent testing, some of the devices from a group shipped to vendors after October 17, 2012 “switched to transmission mode unintentionally after 120 seconds in search mode.” If you own an Ortovox 3+, follow this link to check your device’s serial number. Recalled devices will be inspected and given any needed upgrades.
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| Khumbu Glacier – Pumori 2012 |
If you have a few minutes to kill and a computer with good RAM, have a look at this amazing image. Can you zoom in and find the climbers? What about Everest Base Camp?
If you’d like to get a feel for how much the Khumbu Glacier has receded in the modern era, check out this link.
Wild Country is voluntarily recalling units of the popular Helium carabiner purchased after July 15, 2012, having discovered a problem with the gate on some units. You can read details about the recall here.
A contemplative video about Silvia Vidal, who spent 32 days alone on Serrania Avalancha, a very big wall in Chilean Patagonia.
[From the December 2011 Mazama Bulletin]
Welcome to our winter climb season! Here at the Mazamas, winter climbs run from December 1 to April 30. The good news is that, during the winter, the mountains have fewer climbers and more snow. The bad news is that the weather tends to be much less predictable and avalanche danger much greater. Therefore, the Mazamas conduct winter climbs a little differently from those that take place during the summer.
First of all, in order to accommodate the impromptu nature of Winter Climbs, as in “Hey, the weather looks good next Wednesday. Let’s go!” the Climb Application procedure is more flexible:
Because of increased avalanche danger during the winter climbing season, climb leaders will provide shovels, avalanche probes and transceivers for the climb team. If you own these tools, please bring them and let the climb leader know that you have them. Climb leaders will NOT provide batteries. [Note that grading of climbs is increased for winter.]
Getting footwear resoled just got a little harder for local rock climbers and mountaineers.
As part of its recent business transformation, Portland’s Mountain Soles has stopped all resoling work, with the exception of resoling Patagonia footwear.
The company is going to continue doing outdoor equipment sewing and repair work, but those jobs will need to be dropped off at a local REI, or mailed to the non-retail space that Mountain Soles will soon be moving to.
Mountaineers are in luck: various shoe repair places around the Portland area can resole mountaineering boots with Vibram soles. But if you’re a rock climber, it looks like you’ll be mailing your blown-out rock shoes out of town.
Here are a few places you can send your shoes:
Ramutas Resoles – Helena, MT
Cascade Cobbler – Winthrop, WA
Fly’n Brian’s Resole – Las Vegas, NV
ProDeal Resoles – Pueblo, CO
Or, maybe you can do it yourself.
Check out this video of Mayan Smith- Gobat’s first female ascent of Punks in the Gym, at Australia’s Mt. Arapiles. This route was first established by Wolfgang Güllich in April 1985 and was one of the hardest routes in the world at that time. It is said to only have been climbed by about 30 male climbers thus far and it was one of the first routes that took sport climbing to the next level. Smith-Gobat spent more than two years working the route before finally redpointing the line on October 28. Really fun video to watch!
File your plan with ineversolo, and if you don’t return as expected, the site gets in touch with your emergency contacts, fills them in on the details of your plan, and lets them know that you are late coming back.
Finding no evidence of significant impact, the United States Forest Service has given permission to RLK Company to develop a mountain bike park at Mount Hood’s Timberline Lodge and ski resort. This recent decision would allow the park to begin operating by summer 2014. Opposition groups have 45 days to file an appeal, though the process is limited only to those who were engaged in the comment period.
Here’s what Timberline Lodge has to say about the project, and here is a complete collection of related documents from the U.S. Forest Service.