 PENMEN Cartoons
Updated 1/06/09 - Climbing.com is pleased to present the PENMEN Cartoons by Colorado Springs climber Gary Blehm. Visit his website penmen.com for posters, animations, music videos, games, and more...
 Expand-O-Towel
If Towelly from “South Park” were real, he’d for shizzle drizzle his bizzle with a DYNA-E INTERNATIONAL LIGHTLOAD TOWEL ($6 for a three-pack, ultralighttowels.com). When I first saw the towel, packed down into a 1.75-by-0.5-inch puck, I was skeptical — what, if anything, could I dry with something so wee?
 Life Line
The HERA foundation, the climbing-souled org raising awareness and funding for ovarian cancer since the first Climb4Life, in 2002, has in recent years teamed up with climbing-gear manufacturers to co-brand products, often in its trademark teal and orange colors. A great new HERA offering is the BLUEWATER ROPES LIGHTNING PRO ($185.99 for 60m, herafoundation.org), a popular 9.7mm lead line in those hues, with $15 from each sale going to HERA.
 To the Limit
By Mike Adamson - Thirty-one pitches and 2,900 vertical feet climbed in just 2:45:45—watch as the über-strong Huber brothers (Alexander and Thomas) push themselves To the Limit ($29.95, firstrunfeatures.com) to set what in 2007 was then the speed record for the Nose of El Capitan.
 With Bare Hands: The Story of the Human Spider
Alain Robert, the world famous free soloist has just released his autobiography, With Bare Hands: the story of the Human Spider (published by Maverick House Publishers). The French "Spiderman's", biography will have you clutching each page, holding on and hardly able to breathe, as he tells tales of clinging to giant buildings. Order it from Amazon.com HERE.
 December 2008 - 271
GALLERY - Hard-5.13 headpointing, seaside (and high-country) highballing, roof-crack madness, and Garhwal splendor; COUNTRY STYLE - Take a trad tour with two American hardwomen in South Africa; MAINE LINERS - Mark Synnott and Jared Ogden search, in a 27-foot sloop, for sea cliffs along austere Downeast Maine; ZILLERTAL 2.1 - Deep in the Austrian Tyrol there's a granite wonderland with blocs, clip-ups, cracks, and walls
Pure Chalk from Wild Country
1/02/09 - There’s more to chalk than meets the eye: and with the blending, baking, crushing and forming involved sometimes it can seem more like distilling whisky than making a simple white powder.
THE ROWELL AWARD FOR THE ART OF ADVENTURE SEEKS NOMINEES
12/18/08 - The Rowell Legacy Committee is currently accepting nominations for The Rowell Award for the Art of Adventure which will honor that adventurer whose artistic passion illuminates the wild places of the world. The nomination period ends on December 31st, 2008.
 White Mountain School’s Winter Festival Weekend to Benefit the HERA Foundation
Winter Fest Weekend, in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, January 10–11, 2009, includes ice-climbing and skiing workshops, a Climb for the Cure Climbathon and a presentation by climbing legend Henry Barber. Registration is $40, and forms are available HERE.
 Adaptive Sports Center: Amputee High Adventure Weekend
On January 23 - 26, 2009, experience the freedom of carving turns down a mountain and the exhilaration of ascending frozen waterfalls during this long weekend of winter adventure activities. Skiers of all abilities will enjoy two days of ski instruction on Mt. Crested Butte, followed by two days of professionally-guided ice climbing at the world-renowned Ice Park in Ouray, CO.
 HEART OF STEEL Bouldering Comp
Be ready on January 24th, 2009 for The Boston Rock Gym’s HEART OF STEEL bouldering competition. It will be the raddest comp New England has ever seen with tons of amazing routes, tons of prizes, free schwag, live music, dancing, food, and much more.
 Tech Tip - Alpine - Stayin' Alive
By Dave Sheldon - The pitches flew by on Polar Circus, our one-day Canadian Rockies winter objective. So when my partner said he’d forgotten his headlamp, I didn’t sweat it. Then, a few hours later, I dropped our shared thermos (bummer). But when my crampon’s toe bail snapped and a falling rock halved our ropes, our day climb morphed into a grovelfest replete with unplanned bivy.
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 The Nose Goes Quicker - Part 3
Video by Eric Perlman / MastersofStone.com - EXCERPT FROM MASTERS OF STONE 6 COMING SPRING 2009 - Yuji holds full body weight with one hand on a funky wire nut, 60+ feet above his last pro. If the nut fails, Yuji decks onto the top of Texas Flake. Yuji then frees Boot Flake at very high speed, stopping to place one piece only. Watch Part 1, Watch Part 2
 Deep Water and Sport Climbing in Vietnam
Photos by Tontonbebel, Ong Da, tOine, R. Burns, and Jean Branly courtesy of Dong Chi / vietclimb.com - It’s very simple: take a flight to Vietnam. From Hanoi, take a packed bus to Haiphong, and then a packed speedboat to Cat Ba island. Then pick your own boat, fill it with climbing shoes, Halida beers, chalk and sexy swimsuits. Open your eyes and enter the game. Sit start from a former USSR kayak (watch your balance), campus up to the lip of the roof, heel hook, stand up, and you’re already pumped! Now, you’re really in the game. By the way, you’ve been had, there is no exit. The more you climb, the higher you fall.
 Jeremy Collins: The Interview
Interview by Adam Peters /pimpinandcrimpin.com - Chances are, if you’ve picked up a climbing mag in the past ten years or so you have no doubt seen Jeremy Collin’s artwork. Not only does he monopolize the creative genius you see gracing your magazine pages, but he stinking rips too! Haling from Kansas City, this dynamo is a first ascent slayer, grabbing FA’s from Arkansas sandstone to Black Canyon granite.
Updated 1/01/09 with SUSAN E.B. SCHWARTZ'S 3rd Blog
"In my pretend reality, I’m drifting off to sleep and savoring the play-by-play memory of how I successfully worked out the solution to the crux." —Susan E.B. Schwartz - Reader Blog 3 Click Here for SUSAN E.B. SCHWARTZ'S blog; Click Here for BRUCE WILLEY'S blog; Click Here for MISTY MURPHY'S blog; Click Here for MARTIN GUTMANN'S blog; Click Here for SARAH JANE ALEXANDER 'S blog
 The Horse and Pony Show
By Chris Van Leuven - I’m dangling 500 feet above the deck in a sea of choss. A hammer, crowbar, chalk bag, brushes and ironmongery dangle off my harness. My face is covered in a dust mask and helmet is on tight. With one hand I’m tending to the belay device while the other is feeding the rope out of its coils.
 George Ullrich on a flash attempt of Gaia
Video by Dave Gill / SteepMedia.com - Gaia (E8 6c) is one of those routes we all know about. You’d be hard pressed to find many climbers that haven’t stumbled across the horrendous fall in the opening scene of Slackjaw Film's Hard Grit. It’s interesting reading people's thoughts on the internet and in magazines, about how video is directly affecting modern climbing. When is watching a video beta? Read More: How does video affect climbing?
vietnam-sq.jpg) The Climbing and Culture in the Interior of Vietnam
Photos by Tontonbebel, Ong Da, Pangoline, la belle-mere, Jean Branly courtesy of Dong Chi / vietclimb.com - From the karst towers in the north to granite in the south you'll see everything — from locals who solo cliffs to get bird’s nests, children who make fun of you because you’re trying the hardest way to climb up a boulder, teenagers who steal your crashpad to take a nap, and drunk guys who climb up your rope. Chill out, drink a beer, take a nap, and climb again. We climb because it’s useless, and we love it. "Before the deed comes the thought. Before the achievement comes the dream. Every mountain we climb, we first climb in our mind." —Royal Robbins
 Triple Crown Bouldering Series - The Stone Fort - 2008
Photos by Brian Burnham and Leon Godwin / cirquevideo.com - The third and pinnacle event of the Triple Crown Bouldering Series concluded on December 5-6, on the world class sandstone boulders of The Stone Fort (aka Little Rock City) near Chattanooga, TN. Jimmy Webb secured the overall Men’s Open series win this year with victories at both HP40 and The Stone Fort. In the Women’s Open class the field was closely matched this year, but in the end, it was none other than the Queen of The Triple Crown — Miss Kate McGinnis — who claimed yet another victory. READ MORE. For more info visit: seclimbers.org, carolinaclimbers.org and triplecrownbouldering.com
 David Ethan Graham - Professional Climber, Loner Gypsy, Cult-Sci-Fi Fanatic, Laptop Beat Maker, Nocturnal Tweaker; formerly of Portland, Maine
Compiled by Abbey Smith - The hard-climbing icon Dave Graham, 26, is manic, tweaky, and opinionated. He’s also best understood in person and in his element - with friends and at the rocks, where you’ll find him in a hoody and sneakers, waving his gangly arms to pantomime Beta.
Anchor Replacement Initiative
207 Routes UPGRADED - Updated 12/08/08. Recent ARI activity: Colorado Front Range Anchor Replacement, Boulder/Moab Gallery, Flatirons Anchor Work, Farley Ledge Photos, ARI Upgraded Route Master list, Climbing's ARI Volunteers, for more information on the program, and how to become a sanctioned equipper.
 Living On The Edge (II 5.10c) Snow Canyon State Park, Utah
Just north of the Suburbs of Saint George, Utah, you’ll find Snow Canyon State Park. Named after the Mormon missionaries Lorenzo and Erastus Snow, this quiet zone has approximately 75 sport and trad climbs, from one to six pitches, on Navajo sandstone formations reminiscent of Zion.
Meet the PRO BLOG Team
Updated 11/14/08 with Justin Roth's 11th blog from Boulder, CO — Also check out: Dave MacLeod's 2nd, Lauren Lee's 10th, Andy Mann's 5th, and Dave Graham's 15th. Travel the world through the blogs from our athletes: ANGELA PAYNE, DANIEL WOODS, TIM KEMPLE, DAVE GRAHAM, ETHAN PRINGLE, JOSUNE BEREZIARTU, FREDDIE WILKINSON, JUSTIN ROTH, LAUREN LEE, DAVE MACLEOD, ANDY MANN, REEL ROCK FILM TOUR
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