I can’t tell you how many times I’ve loaded up the truck for a weekend trip with excess gear in hopes that we’d get to use it. You know, toss the climbing gear in, just in case we have time to send a route or two. Or the cumbersome addition of the bike on the rack, only to run out out of time and not get to use it. Well this past weekend wasn’t one of those times. Just like so many of those other trips, I loaded up the truck with all the gear to have an epic weekend, …
Tag: Rock Climbing
Purblind Pillar | Red Rocks Canyon | Multi-pitch Climb
900 feet above the ground from where I stepped off the deck and onto the first holds of the route. That’s when it finally hit me. The wave of accomplishment, stoke, and relief. We’d spent nearly the entire day on this wall, 7 hours to be exact, and our ascent was finally over. Even though it’s only rated a 5.8, the 6 pitches of the climb were one adventure after next. And for my first time on the Red Rocks of Vegas, it was one helluva trip. Zachary KenneyHi there, my name is Zachary Kenney and I’m an adventure filmmaker …
Birdsboro Quarry | Sport Climbing Mecca in Pennsylvania
When you think of great sport climbing areas around the states, I’m sure places like the Red River Gorge of Kentucky, The Red Rocks of Nevada, or the Crags in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. But what about the Birdsboro Quarry? Never heard of it, well me neither until last summer. The quarry is home to the 158 sport routes, ranging from cruiser 5.2 to a heinous 5.14, and fun slabs to some pretty gnarly multi-pitch stuff. Never would I have guessed you could find epic sport routes in south eastern Pennsylvania, so close to Philadelphia. Not to mention it …
The Jump from Climbing Gym to Outdoor Crag
Picture yourself climbing up the third pitch of a massive rock face that overlooks the valley floor below as the sun is setting on your back during a late summer climbing trip with your friends. Or at least that’s what Instagram has implanted in your mind of what climbing is, and you are ready to take the plunge from the gym into the big-time world of climbing outdoors. Assuming you’re like most climbers, you started in the exciting, yet controlled environment of a climbing gym close to your house. You’ve finally gained the confidence on all the 5.10s the gym …
Mammut Smart Belay Device: Review
The Mammut Smart Belay Device stands high above all the rest of the competition. So when your browser has 14 tabs open, with 4 dedicated to belay reviews from all the top sources, 5 dedicated to customer reviews and forums, and the last 5 dedicated to finding the cheapest place that offers, close them all now. My Review The Smart Belay Device is one of the most versatile assisted-braking devices on the market. It’s made by Mammut, of Switzerland, so you know it’s been tested to perform at its best when you needed it the most. The best, and my …
Rocktoberfest: First Rock Climbing Comp
I began rock climbing last winter, 2014, and like mostly everything else, I got hooked immediately. It opened my eyes to a whole new world of challenges, atmosphere, people, and of course the fun. I love competition, I have ever since I was a kid playing all the sports I could, but seeing the great climbers at the gym really turned me away from entering any of the competitions my local gym held. Thankfully, this past October, a not-so-serious comp was held with more of an emphasis on hanging out and having a good time rather than beating the other …
Outdoor Climbing: Ragged Mountain
The perfect mixture of scared and stoked, is the best way for me to describe my first outdoor rock climbing experience. I am a very bad example when doing something for the first time. I usually just google the activity that I want to do, watch a few YouTube videos, and then go out and do it. That usually works well for something like basketball or knitting, not so much outdoor rock climbing. Granted, I had been climbing indoors for quite a while now, so it wasn’t my climbing skills that I was concerned with. I found a mountain, Ragged …