NEPAL FUNDRAISER
We are very excited for our upcoming climb of Mt. Washington on October 24th-25th! This Summit at Sunrise climb will benefit the victims of the Nepal Earthquake. This country has greatly affected our lives. For anyone who has been to this part of the world has experienced the amazing people who never let a smile leave their face. Despite all of their trials, limited resources and sometimes primitive lifestyle, they remain happy, energetic, and their spirit never dampens. They deserve our help. Small contributions go a LONG way in Nepal. $5USD is $500 rupees. Just imagine what $200 can do in Nepal. The devastation no longer fills our new feeds on social media, the hype is gone in the USA, we no longer see the suffering on the news. Nepal still needs our help. The rebuilding process will take years and years in a country that has so little resources. On my trips to Nepal I watched men breaking rocks with a homemade sledge hammer made out of a stick with another rock attached to it. I have seen countless people in their retirement age carrying 70-100lbs or more. These people are the most determined, hard working, and joyful people you will meet in your life. They just do not have the means to rebuild quickly. Many villages are still leveled and the residents are living in tarp structures. Let’s show them that we care! They do so much for those who visit their country, the least we can do is climb a mountain for them!

If you are looking to help…

Visit www.Aidclimb.com
Join our AIDClimb or donate to the cause.
Visit Nepal (they rely on our tourist dollars)
Donate to many of the other wonderful organizations working in Nepal.

Be aware that the Nepal government is well-known for corruption. In many cases the donated money never reaches its intended destination. We are formulating a plan to get our donations directly to families in Nepal bypassing the government. These donations will be delivered directly to where it is needed most.

ROCK CLIMBING DEAL
We are running an early bird special for rock climbing. Only 2 weeks left to purchase the deal!! You can use this to book an Intro to Rock Climbing course, a multi-pitch climb, or a rock climbing skills course to practice anchor building and other skills.

2 consecutive days of Rock Climbing for $245!! Book 2 people for $315. For use between September 1 and October 31.
Use Discount Code “earlyrock” to book online. A 30% savings!
Must book by September 14th.

Hindsight is 20/20 and it has me pondering how I managed to survive my early climbing days. The more I learn and experience, the more I realize how naive I was when I started climbing 11 years ago. I knew how to set up a strong anchor and I knew how to belay (kind of) and rappel (kind of). Like any teenager, I wanted to get outside and climb without being told what to do and how to do it.
I began my mountaineering career with a solid start. Several guided trips built my skill and competence level to an acceptable level. I don’t have many regrets or feelings of horror looking back on my progression in mountaineering. Technical climbing is a different story. I look back now on all of the ludicrous stuff I pulled and wonder, “how did I pull that off without a mishap?” It wasn’t until I started to meet climbing partners, hire guides, and eventually take guiding courses where I learned the correct way to do even simple things like belaying correctly, or at least to the current “industry standards.” I made mistakes and I learned from them. If you are starting your climbing career, ask yourself some of these questions…

Can I belay a top-rope belayer using the BUS (brake, under, slide) method?
Can I set up an Earnest or Serene Anchor?
Do I know how to properly place Trad gear?
Do I know how to rappel properly by extending the belay device and backing it up with an Autoblock?
Can I coil my rope so that it doesn’t get tangled?
When do I retire my rope?
Do I know how to safely clean a sport anchor?
Can I properly protect my second?
Does my partners level of acceptable risk match my own?
Is the risk worth the reward?

The list goes on and on, but some of these are questions I would have said no to in my first years of climbing. These are really important skills among many others.

So how do you go about gaining the correct knowledge? I have always found that hanging out and climbing with several climbing partners has been a huge help, but it can also lead you astray and create some bad habits as well as good ones. Consider who your source is. What are his/her credentials? I hear from people all the time that they don’t need to back up their rappel because they are “very safe and cautious” or they use a dangerous belaying method because they learned it from a friend and have been using it for years without an incident. So how do you know what is the safest way to do anything in climbing?! Just because it has worked in the past doesn’t mean it won’t fail you tomorrow. It is tough to distinguish facts from myths.

Here is my humble advice on how I would have went about it, could I go back in time:

1) Read more discussions and research online on best climbing practices. Again, consider your source. Manufacturers such as Black Diamond, among others, put their gear through rigorous testing and then publish the results. Read these and watch the videos on how to properly use their gear. Reputable climbing magazines have countless articles and much can be learned from accident analysis.

2) Climb with many people who you respect and who have a good track record. Maybe skip the climbing day with the guy who has a history of falls, injuries, and “epics”. Climbing with multiple partners allows you to see different ways to approach the same situation and you can choose what works the best and what seems safest. Ask them why they are doing it like that.

3) Hire a guide. Yes, I know this is a blog post from a guide company, but we are here for a reason. When it comes time to learn a new skill, hire an AMGA (American Mountain Guide Association) guide to teach you that skill. Usually you can learn many skills in one day and probably a lot of other stuff you didn’t plan to learn. It’s pricey, I know, but they are giving you knowledge and skills based on years and years of experience, testing, research, and more testing. If you answered “no” to any of the questions above, consider a guide to learn that skill the way it is now accepted by the industry.

4) Always wear a helmet. With all of the stories (seems to be monthly) coming out about how a helmet saved another life, not wearing a helmet while climbing is like taking up smoking when you have Asthma. My helmet has saved head injury more times than I can count. Falling ice, falling rocks, bumping my head while climbing, and many more random mishaps. Yes, it doesn’t allow the wind to blow through your golden locks, but it WILL pay off for you one day and it models good behavior for generations to come.

5) Always keep a positive attitude. Having a partner that always likes to go hard is great but I would much rather climb with a mediocre climber who is good company than someone who is a great climber but is pessimistic and cynical. Some of my best memories are the ones that include a failed attempt on a summit but with good friends. Don’t yell at your partner. This really doesn’t get you anywhere other than sitting on your couch because you now have no one to climb with.

6) Accept defeat. You won’t summit every mountain you set your sights on and you won’t send every route. Try your best and if the conditions worsen, or you become too tired… bail. Climbing should be fun. “Epics” are only fun if/when you have survived them.

7) Finally, keep your plans flexible! Try not to plan one route, on one mountain, for a set time period. You are setting yourself up for disaster. Instead, arrive at your climbing destination with many options in mind and climb what the mountain, weather, and/or route allow. Forcing routes in defiance to the signs around you usually ends badly. A large amount of accidents that happen in the Whites (and other ranges) start long before anyone steps foot on the trail. They plan their climb of say Mt. Washington for January 12th. They plan their trip from say California months in advance with a lot of money going into travel, lodging, meals etc. Perhaps they have trained for just as long. When they arrive, the weather is forecast for -50 wind chills and 90mph winds on the summit with blowing snow. Since they have put so much into this trip, they go anyway. If this same situation unfolded but they decided to accept defeat and stay in the low lands to ice climb at a crag or go skiing, things will likely turn out much better and they would likely have a much better time on their vacation.

I hope this post resonates with you and that you can at least consider some of what it has to say. I’m still not perfect and I never will be, but these are a few of the things I wish I had known and tidbits of what I have learned over the years. Climb safe, have fun, and enjoy the outdoors!

Corey

Recently I posted about my trip to Kalymnos in June of this year. At the end of my trip I put together my top ten list of places I would like visit for rock climbing, however, I never explained why I wanted to climb at those places. So here they are, the rationale for my climbing bucket list:

 

1. Kalymnos, Greece

I wanted to climb here for a couple of reasons. The first is the fact that it is argued by some to be the sport climbing mecca of the world. I am a sport climber at my roots, so something about those big, beautiful tufas really appealed to me. Plus, being walking distance from the Mediterranean is a bonus. The second reason I wanted to go to Kalymnos was get in touch with my Greek heritage. After a number of days on the island climbing, enjoying Greek cuisine and trying to learn Greek, my partner and I spent several days in Athens taking in the sites and culture of one of the most important civilizations in human history.

 

2.  Patagonia, Argentina

The sheer immensity and the ominous look of the walls and rock in Patagonia is what draws me here. Patagonia is a true test of a climber’s rock ability. Alpine approaches lend way to massive big wall climbs, sometimes in less than ideal conditions. In Patagonia, all factors come into play. the ability to move fast, to pull hard moves, to layer correctly, to make decisions based on weather and conditions, and to push through adversity are all skills that become important here. I want to go to Patagonia for the experience, and the chance to take everything I have learned about not only rock climbing, but all climbing, and combine it into the adventure of a lifetime. Climbing on perfect granite cliffs would also be a plus.

 

3. Chamonix, France

To be completely honest, I know little to nothing about Chamonix. From what I can gather, climbing in Chamonix is the adventure of climbing in Patagonia, combined with the luxury of staying in a French chalet. Climbing in Europe is lightyears ahead of climbing in the United State, and has always been that way. Chamonix in particular is a classic example of a European mountain community who has devoted itself entirely to the sport of climbing. There are roadside sport and trad crags, and for those feeling a little more adventurous, chairlifts to the base of alpine rock routes. Who doesnt want to skip the hike take a chairlift to the base of their climb?

 

4. Ceuse, France

France has obviously been blessed by the rock climbing gods, I would be crazy to not include Ceuse on my list. While the approaches are much longer than Chamonix, and not accessible by chairlift (HUUUGE BUMMER), the limestone crags of Ceuse house some of the world’s hardest sport climbs. This includes Realization, a 5.15a put up by Chris Sharma. Can I climb that hard you ask? Hell no I cannot climb that hard, but I would love the opportunity to push my sport climbing limits at such an inspiring proving ground. And, for those of you trad climbers out there who think there is nothing in Ceuse for you, check out this crazy video of Arnaud Petit climbing Black Bean, 8b, with gear.

 

5. Squamish, BC, Canada

More sport climbing! Not quite as far away as the other destinations on my list, but I have to give our neighbors in the Great White North some credit for Squamish. There is roadside cragging, huge multi pitch climbs, and of course Canadian hospitality. I have very little experience in Canada except for a family trip to Niagra falls and a short stay in Montreal for the Youth Continental Championships when I was 16. Vancouver which is about an hour and a half drive away, is the cultural center of Canada as well as a city that is frequently listed as a top five worldwide city for livability. So not only does this place have perfect granite, but it’s also an excuse to visit our neighbors to the north and experience what Vancouver has to offer.

 

6. The Bugaboos, Canada

Another Canadian gemstone, the Bugaboos. Have you ever seen a picture or a video of a granite crack that just looked so perfect that it made your palms sweat at the thought of it? That is what happens when I see pictures of the Beckey Chouinard route, one of the most classic alpine rock climbs on the planet.I saw a video a few months back of alpine climbing in the Bugaboos, and almost bought a plane ticket right there (Ill post the link below). Perfect cracks, alpine approaches, and the chance to see a moose (hey its Canada), all of those things sound awesome to me.

 

 

7. Yosemite, California

I shouldnt even have to explain this one. Yosemite; home of the stonemasters, birthplace of modern climbing culture, home of the most iconic cliffs in the world. Enough said.

 

8. Thailand

This is another destination that I do not know a whole lot about. What I do know however, is that Thailand’s scenic beaches are filled with overhanging sport crags, with even more development happening as we speak. Many climbers who visit Thailand stay in beachside bugaboos in small village communities. I have never been to Asia, and if I could pick one destination to see,  it would be the country of Thailand. Partly because it is affordable (I am on a budget), but also because the culture is something I want to experience. Thailand is often referred to as the “land of smiles” because the traditional Thai greeting involves giving a welcoming smile. Smiles, beachside climbing and accommodations, sounds like a nice vacation to me.

 

9. Grampians, Australia

I have some unfinished business with Australia. In 2010, as a youth competitor, I qualified for the Youth World Championships as a speed climber. I was suppose to spend a week in a beach house with the U.S team coach and a few other team members. We were going to climb outside and train for the competition. But instead what did I do? I broke my arm playing pickup baseball. Needless to say, I have thought about Australia nonstop for the past five years. Grampians National Park is home to an equal mix of sport and trad climbs on sandstone cliffs. A trip here would not only lend itself to phenomenal climbing, but also the experience of a lifetime in the land down under.

 

10. Dolomites, Italy

I have been fortunate enough to have the chance to climb a little bit in Italy, in Arco to be exact. I enjoyed every second of it. Amazing limestone, beautiful scenery, and Italian food and wine to recharge after a long day. The Dolomites are one of the most beautiful collections of mountains in the world, and on top of their beauty they are also rich in climbing history. Dolomite climbing could include cragging at a sport or trad area, or just like Chamonix, taking a lift to the base of huge alpine rock climbs (those Europeans really have it figured out). A destination that definitely calls my name and earns a spot on my top ten.

 
When I put this list together on the plane home from Kalymnos, I was a little sad. I was coming home and I knew it would be a while before I was able to go on another big trip. But after having sat down to write a more descriptive list  for all you NEM fans out there to enjoy, I got pretty excited. Partly because I spent a rainy afternoon looking at climbing pictures and videos, but also because I had an important realization. Us climbers are some of the luckiest people in the world, and here’s why; climbing takes us to places that “normal” people wouldn’t find by accident, beautiful valleys, stunning mountain ranges, and hidden communities of some of the most genuine people you will ever meet. Climbing locations tend to be off the beaten path, far from major tourist areas, and filled with people who exemplify the culture of the country. Climbing is not just about getting to the top, it’s about the journey and the experience. I encourage everyone who reads this to sit down and make your own top ten. Pick places that inspire you, look beautiful to you, or give you an excuse to climb in a place you have always wanted to visit. Once you’re done, share with us! We would love to hear where our followers want to go!

 

– Alek Pouliopoulos

NEM Director of Operations