 Alec Waggoner 1985-2008
Alec Waggoner, of Beloit, KS, tragically lost his life on October 26, 2008, after a bicycle accident in Syracuse, NY. Alec perfectly represented the climbing scene in Kansas: he was energetic, optimistic, determined, and yes, a little crazy at times.
 Mike Strassman 1959-2007
Baboquivari 1980: My most memorable climb with Mike Strassman was my first time up Baboquivari Peak, southwest of Tucson, Arizona. The plan was to climb the southeast arête under the light of the full moon. No better way to spend a Friday night, we thought.
 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
 Marmot Presents The 2008 Triple Crown Bouldering Series
With the Hound Ears and HP 40 comps in the books, competitors eagerly await the conclusion at the Stone Fort in Chattanooga, TN on December 6th. Don't miss it! The Triple Crown is dedicated to maintaining climbing access by supporting the Southeastern Climbers' Coalition and The Carolina Climbers' Coalition.
 John Bachar Southeast Tour - November 2008
In every sport there are men, myths and legends. In the world of rock climbing and free soloing, there is only one name that fits all three: John Bachar. One of America's most daring rock climbers is visiting the Southeast (Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina) in November, 2008. While here, he will be giving several slideshows and Acopa Shoe Demos.
 Training Clinics by Timy Fairfield at Vertical World - November 2008
Timy Fairfield will be offering a series of 5 climbing/training workshops at Seattle and Redmond Vertical World facilities November 18-20, 2008. Timy will be sharing training methods and insights gained from his experiences as a veteran professional rock climber of 18 years and foreign-trained world cup competitor.
 Warriors Way Mental/Movement Camp
By Arno Ilgner - Combine the Warrior's Way mental fitness material with movement skills on December 5-7, 2008, at Foster Fallls in East Tennessee. Training must be integrated to benefit fully from it. We've blended the skills of movement and mental fitness to create a more powerful and efficient approach to climbing.
 The International Climbers' Meet Recap
Story and photos by Jim Donini / AmericanAlpineClub.org - We were pleasantly surprised that 49 climbers from 23 countries signed up for our inaugural event. Europe was well represented but it was gratifying to see climbers from Russia, China, Japan, Turkey, South Africa, Brazil and Australia there as well. The 24th country, America, was represented by 30 host climbers from a dozen different States. See a photo gallery by Anna Piunova from The International Climbers’ Meet HERE
 Tech Tip - Sport - Welcome to the Jungle (Gym)
By Krisitn Bjornsen - YOU FEEL EYES UPON YOU — is that panting you hear? You flee to the bouldering cave . . . but you’re cornered. Any second, the lone, roving male will pounce, turning your once-pleasant session into a socially awkward morass.
Omega Pacific Quickdraw Raises Funds and Awareness for Ovarian Cancer Research
11/12/08 - Omega, the 24th letter of the Greek alphabet, signals the end of something. Climbing gear manufacturer Omega Pacific introduces the Telos keylock quickdraw that’s helping the HERA Foundation put an end to ovarian cancer.
801RIVERFRONT - The Future of Indoor Climbing and Skating in Chattanooga, TN
11/05/08 - We want to become Chattanooga's premier indoor rock climbing and skateboard park, as well as providing space for training and yoga, a club area with ping-pong, pool, foosball tables, food, and a pro-shop.
 AMERICAN MEATBALLS - Two Yanks Taste Humble Pie on the Superb Granite of Sweden
By Mike Brumbaugh / Photos by Jonas Paulsson - Sweden: this serene Scandinavian country conjures visions of sweeping granite, splitter cracks, and rounded blocs. Er, I mean, bikini teams, hockey, lingonberry jam . . . and more bikini teams. In short, all things not climbing. And so it is with major trepidation that, in April 2007, I board a plane to Stockholm for a climbing trip.
 The Big D - How Rifle Mountain Park Became the "Land of 5.13d"
Something terrible dwells in the East. Eyes sharper than flints, a back rippling with veins and muscle, its arms long and sinewy, knees covered in a thick, black carapace, this horror is, as we speak, hurtling through the icy maw of the mountains. The beast has rolled the stoutest cord of 60 meters into a black bag, the line coiled like an angry cobra.
 Yuji and Hans Speed Up The Nose - An El Capitan Dispatch from Yosemite, CA
By Larry Arthur / MountainTools.com - We saw our friends Hans Florine & Yuji Hirayama on Sunday, October 12th, 2008, before, during and after their world record ascent of The Nose in 2:37:05! This was 9 minutes and change faster than their previous record last year (6 minutes faster that their ascent in July, 2008).
 Q and A with Taylor Clarkin - Winner of 2008 World Youth Speed Climbing Championships
Congratulations to Taylor Clarkin for winning the 2008 IFSC World Youth Speed Climbing Championships on August 28-31, 2008 in Sydney, Australia. She was the only American competitor amongst the 45 member US youth national team to bring home the Gold this year.
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 Reel Rock Film Tour Sweepstakes presented by Windstopper and The North Face
Enter now for a chance to win a Cipher Windstopper Jacket from The North Face. WINDSTOPPER provides apparel manufacturers with proprietary technologies for keeping consumers warm and comfortable – ie. warm fuzzies - with its windproofness, breathability and water resistance.
 World Premiere of Andy Parkin: "Life in adaptation" at the 2008 Kendal Mountain Film Festival, November 20th - 23rd
The 30 minute documentary, shot over 2 years by Blue Hippo Media and Weekday Productions, provides a powerful insight to the life of a remarkable man who, in 1984, suffered a near fatal Alpine climbing accident. Many then believed Andy’s love affair with the mountains to be over. Watch the Trailer.
 Bolivia Rock Star Festival
On November 1st, 2008 at the Amor de Dios Neighborhood in the Aramjuez area of La Paz, the First Rock Star Festival took place. The Vertigo Climbing Club, who organized this event, created a competition based on a triathlon theme where competitors would do a 4 kilometer run, a 60 meter zip line and climb ten routes. See a photo gallery from the event.
 Henry Barber - Free-Climbing Pioneer, Free Soloist, Trad Climber, Motivational Speaker, Purist; North Conway, New Hampshire
Born in Boston in 1953, Henry Barber is a prolific first ascentionist, pioneer of clean climbing, and free soloist; in the 1970s, he was perhaps the world’s best free climber, period.
 A Trip to the Miyar Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India
Trip report and photos by Camilo Lopez and Anna Pfaff - On the 13th of August we started our trip to India. About 18 hours of the "most comfortable airplane seats" and a few hours of waiting in between we made it to our first destination...Delhi, India. We loaded up and got into the mini bus taxi, which smelled like incense and cigarettes, the perfect combo after a long flight.
Climbing.com is pleased to present our NEW READER BLOGGER Misty Murphy
Click Here for SUSAN E.B. SCHWARTZ'S blog. Schwartz, a Gunks veteran and mother of two has been climbing, and writing about climbing, for almost 20 years. Click Here for BRUCE WILLEY'S blog. Surfer at heart Willey, was raised “raised by coyotes” in San Bernardino, California and has been climbing and mountaineering since age 11. Click Here for MISTY MURPHY'S blog. Murphy, from Salt Lake City, Utah is a musician who took up rock climbing 12 years ago.
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
 Not Busted: Free Climbing Half Dome's Regular NW Face
Story and photos by Chris Van Leuven - It didn’t matter how hard I bared down on the chickenhead, the hold was not positive enough to support body weight. There was just enough friction on Half Dome’s featureless, grainy granite to smear my feet against and stand in place, but not enough to not advance on.
 2008 Yangshuo Climbing Festival
Video courtesy of Black Diamond Equipment - Yangshuo’s endless chain of limestone karst towers spread amongst the surrounding rivers and farmland provided a surreal backdrop for the events on October 31 - November 2. One of the area’s premier climbing walls, White Mountain, served as festival headquarters with its overhanging 70-meter main wall forming a natural amphitheater for music, clinics, and slideshows. READ MORE.
 The North Face and Black Diamond present the First Annual 2008 Yangshuo, China Climbing Festival
More than 350 climbers from 15 countries and more than half the provinces in China came together the First Annual The North Face/Black Diamond Yangshuo Climbing Festival was held from October 31 through November 2 in and around the town of Yangshuo in Southeast China’s Guangxi Province.
 Bouldering in France, Germany and Switzerland
Photos by Georg Lenz / www.lenzfoto.de - Bouldering naturally offers better working (shooting) conditions compared to roped climbing, but the German photographer Georg Lenz also enjoys that too. Shown here is a collection of problems (and climbers) from the European boulderfields of: Laurenzofels, near Alsace, France; Pfalz, near Heidelberg and Karlsruhe, Germany; Magic Wood, near Averstal, Switzerland; and Ticino in the Verzasca Valley, Switzerland.
 Yellow Brick Road (5.9+) - Wizard Needle, California
Every story you've heard about the Needles (California) is true: the place does feel haunted, and the climbing is that good. Towering cones of granite claim the horizon of this wonderland, perched at 8,000 feet in the Sierras near the edge of the Kern River Wilderness.
 Expedition to India’s Miyar Valley - Slideshow
Photos by Camilo Lopez and Anna Pfaff - Lopez and Pfaff, who live in Lyons, Colorado, established two proud first ascents on two different unclimbed peaks in India’s Miyar Valley from August 13 - September 23, 2008. First they climbed an 840 meter route they dubbed, Directisima, (5.9), on Coni Peak (5,200m). Then they made the F.A. of a 1400 meter ridge they called, Long Life Ridge, (5.9) on Peak 5,800 (5,820m). READ MORE.
 The First Ascent of French Duke (E9 7a)
Video by Alastair Lee and Adam Lincoln - In this video Jordan Buys makes the first ascent of the ultra-modern gritstone testpiece French Duke (E9 7a), which consists of a Font 7c+ boulder problem high above marginal gear. Buys spent 10 days dialing the slopey arête moves before finally sending the risky headpoint. French Duke is located at Earl Crag, Yorkshire, UK. For more info visit: PosingProductions.com
 The Nose Goes Quicker - Part 2
Video by Eric Perlman / MastersofStone.com - TEASER FROM MASTERS OF STONE 6 COMING SPRING 2009 - The July 2, 2008 - In this 3:20 episode, Yuji and Hans blast past Dolt Tower, up Texas Flake and across the diagonal Bolt Ladder, as usual placing pro in forty to fifty foot intervals. Yuji feels the stress as he fails to unclip a daisy, utters his only profanity of the day ("merde") and cam hooks the aid section of Boot Flake. Their time continues right on the edge of record pace. Watch Part 1
Anchor Replacement Initiative
204 Routes UPGRADED - Updated 10/13/08. Recent ARI activity: 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.
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