Mountain Man

I met Fred Beckey in 1986. He was 63 and the quintessential dirtbag climber.
He hasn't changed much-- he's still climbing at 85.

Update

I've been out of commission with Knee surgery this week.

Been watching the goings on in the Karakoram--another series of deaths on the world's most dangerous mountain, K2.

The times has an editorial today. Every person who steps up to K2 knows the danger.

Flying Between Towers

A new outdoor sport has folks flying between rock towers in the Czech Republic.

ADRSPACH, Czech Republic — Exactly a decade has passed since a man called Oxygen first hurled himself across Amerika. Known for his jumping ability, Oxygen, a lanky Czech, catapulted to legend status by leaping a nearly 10-foot-wide abyss separating two 100-foot sandstone spires.

More here, from the NY Times.

02:43:33

When I a kid and climbing every day, I would sit at night and gaze at George Meyer's book Yosemite Climber, with its incredible photographs and stories of climbing in Yosemite National Park. Long out of print, my copy sits in our living room bookcase with other valued mountaineering and adventure books I have collected and taken special care of over the years.

One highlight in the book is the great granite wall, El Capitan, which has always captivated the imaginations and the skills of climbers around the world.

This photo, of Westbay, Bridwell, and Long after their one day speed ascent of El Capitan in 1975, really shows the culture of climbing at that time.




Speed climbing El Cap has been an ongoing thing since then, and the other day, two guys made it up the 3.000+ foot wall in 2 hours, 43 minutes and 33 seconds. Damn.

Here's the route:



and more on the ascent from the SF Gate.

2:43:33

Two hours, 43 minutes and 33 seconds is the new record for speed climbing El Capitan's 2,900-foot Nose route (at about 17.7 feet per minute) by a duo.

-- That's a minute faster than the average length of a major-league baseball game in 1986 (but those have generally gotten longer since then).

-- It's the same length as the epic 2004 Brad Pitt-Orlando Bloom film "Troy."

-- And it's two minutes shorter than the time it took for the Titanic to sink below the surface after its iceberg collision on April 14, 1912.

Here they are after the climb.

For more on El Cap speed climbing, go here.

Rock Jargon

Every group has its vocabulary. This includes those who climb boulders--the sport's called bouldering.

We used to boulder all of the time to hone our skills for the bigger cliffs, and because it was just plain fun. I suppose folks who listened to our stories of the "problems" we tackled sometimes needed translation.

So, Here's a link to an article that describes the lingo of boulderers.

"If you have friends who engage in animated conversations about “crimps” and “slopers,” spend their time swapping “beta,” or whine about their “shredded tips,” there’s only one rational explanation: You’re hanging out with boulderers. Devotees of bouldering — a form of rope-free rock climbing that requires little gear..." 

Lots cooking up on Mt. Everest the past few days, related in part to the Olympic torch. Not our usual fare, but check out these reports:

Jim Curtin's blog here.

Wired Magazine summary of who's blogging from the mountain.

More recent news and a bunch of links to climber blogs at mteverest.net.

And even more at Peakfreaks.

It is amazing how much technology has permeated the world of high altitude mountaineering.

Sunday Night Video

This video is making the net rounds. It's great. Find more at The Range Life.