Review: Arc'Teryx Rampart Long Shorts

I never envisioned reviewing a pair of shorts; however, my recent trial of the Arc’Teryx Rampart shorts inspired me. I was pretty tired of the elastic waistband shorts that could barely stay up against the weight of my wallet, mobile and keys. Or, there’s the ones that are made for climbing and outdoors that all but deteriorate the first time you chimney or even sit on somewhat abrasive rock – you know who you are.

I kind of took a gamble with these just to see how they were and at the end of it I ended up ordering another pair. They are excellent for climbing, swimming or even just lounging. The material – a nylon/spandex blend – is sturdy, lightweight and breathable and the pocket design actually makes sense. Also, they are fit to size so no worries about relying on the elastic band being just right.

Overall I would give it a 9 out of 10. Price is $69.

Link:
http://www.arcteryx.com/Product.aspx?Mens/Pants-Shorts/Rampart-Long#Light-Athletic

Registration opens for 2009 Granite Gripper

(Posted on behalf of CTCC)

That's right folks. This will be the 18th consecutive year for us!

We're really excited about this year's event as we'll be debuting a companion film contest to the climbing comp. We've taken input & lessons learned from year's past and poured our creative juices over trying to make this the best year yet.

Everything is made possible by our sponsors, volunteers and, of course, you! So mark your calendars for the weekend of October the 17th, 2009 as Gripper Weekend and come on down for a great time climbing on central Texas' best granite and socializing below the domes among our awesome climbing community.

As always, all money raised goes directly to the Friends of Enchanted Rock... our local ERock stewards who have tirelessly worked to not only maintain, but improve the quality of our trails and our experiences while visiting the park.

Please visit the granite gripper site at granitegripper.com (or you can just as well start at the CTCC's home page) for information regarding the film contest and how to register online. Act soon as we're offering incredible deals for online registrants!

Here's an early "Thanks Yall!" for everyone who can make it or help spread the word. We'll see ya at our beautiful Enchanted Rock SNA.

Wishing you safe & happy climbing!

The members of the Central Texas Climbing Committee,
Bill Gooch
Matt Twyman
Conrad Schaefer
Barry Wilson
Corey Fields
Gail McClanahan
James Faerber

Links:

http://centraltexasclimbingcommittee.com/gripper.html
http://www.centraltexasclimbingcommittee.com/home.html
http://www.friendsofenchantedrock.com/

Let’s try this again

Yes, I know it’s been a while, but sometimes you have to take a break to have a quality return (no promises on that one). Just like with climbing – often you need rest so you can come back even stronger. Now that the temps are boiling once again in Texas, I must resort to getting my partial fix through the Webcrag. Not to say there aren’t positive aspects of the hot summers.

For instance, there’s water soloing in Central Texas, something that has grown exponentially over the past year (more to come on that). The other is getting pushed to take road trips seeking out fair weather. Plans are currently brewing for climbing trips in Montana, SLC and Cali. Let’s make the best of it. Stay tuned!

It's water soloing time

Getting acclimated back to the Texas heat has been tough. As early as April I was seriously doubting my return and wondering if people could really climb in this heat and humidity. Then, I went to Pace Bend and reminded myself what climbing in Texas' summer is all about.

I didn't remember there being so many routes at Pace Bend when I lived here before, but the heat has apparently driven the growing Austin crowd to seek more routes above the cool waters of Lake Travis.

There's almost always a crew of folks out on the weekends and no matter what the lake levels are at there's typically a place that is safe to climb. If anything, the top-outs will just get more and more mental as the crags get taller and taller.

The routes are pretty consistent with other Austin cragging in that most of it is juggy and overhung. However, there are plenty of routes with vertical/technical features as well. Also, routes range anywhere from 5.5 - 5.13 so you are sure to be entertained for many summers to come.

Links:
http://bloodyflapper.com/main.php

Fontline airs "Storm over Everest"

This week PBS aired a Frontline special covering the May 10, 1996 epic on Everest that was earlier revealed in Jon Krakaeur's book, Into Thin Air.

Go to the PBS link below to view an online version, explore a "Roundtable" of climbing ethics, view an interactive map that takes you through the events, and read other interviews/discussions around the special and epic Everest events.

Link:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/everest/
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=4844914&page=1

Endurance and Competition

I recently participated in my first climbing comp – The Limestoner in Austin, TX. In the past I avoided competing for a fear that it would potentially affect my passion for the sport. I always had this notion that mixing commercial interests (sponsors) and competition (climbing for a reason other than connecting with the environment) would take away from climbing’s purity.

But, I see it as a way to compete with myself. I entered the endurance portion of the competition. This awards the climber who climbs the most routes and at the hardest levels. And, since I had climbed 32 routes for my birthday a month or so earlier, I figured this would be a good opportunity to really push myself and see how far I could go, a notion I doubt any belayer could be as excited about. Luckily, I had a great buddy (Randy, a climber profiled in an earlier blog article) who was willing to help out.

Actually, when it came down to it, the fact that there were other competent climbers in the endurance portion pushed me even harder to keep going and try harder. Maybe I am competitive after all.

Regardless, the comp helped me push myself beyond any point I had experienced in the past and helped fuel my confidence for upcoming challenges.

Link:

http://www.ctmrocks.com/web/Limestoner_Summary.htm

Tufa City

A few weeks back I went down to Mexico with a couple friends to climb the enormous tufa cave at El Salto, Mex. First of all, El Salto was unexpectedly at a pretty high elevation – considerably speaking at least. There were pine trees and the weather was nice and crisp…perfect sending weather.

The scenery was pretty amazing. The trees were sagging with long moss and we were crammed in this rocky valley about 200 meters across with towering limestone crags on either side. There seemed to be the potential for multi-pitch everywhere. But, you can climb multi-pitch in Potrero, we wanted to pull down on tufas.

The drive in was a sketchy 4x4 trail where we kept getting passed by teams of ATV weekenders that seemed to be barely making it themselves. The climbing was well worth it though.

Once we finally got on some routes, we found it to be some of the most amazing overhanging routes we’d touched. Nasfuratu has become one of my top ten routes and I still can’t stop thinking about the moves. It’s that perfect route that has consistent moves, requires technique and makes you think about every second you’re on the wall. Then, once you think it’s over, you have a huge throw to a semi-blind slot that you either get or you miss…

I plan on getting back out there again soon. Who wants to go?