How to Chop a Bolt … Right
The phrase “chopping bolts” is one of the worst misnomers in the climbing lexicon. Chopping a bolt really just means taking a bolt out of the rock. Yet for some reason, the term “chop” connotes the...
View ArticleThis Week in Climbing
It’s that time of year in Colorado when the bears begin to forage through low-lying dumpsters, and climbers across the West finally send their summertime projects. Despite having coined the phrase...
View ArticleAlex Megos Completes His Longest Project
Alex Megos finally redpointed something … That’s a joke of course, because up until now the 21-year-old Megos has either onsighted or flashed—or come very close to onsighting or flashing—or has just...
View ArticleAdam Ondra Turns Pain to Joy
On August 23 in Munich, Adam Ondra narrowly beat a really tough field to become the bouldering World Champion. He eked out his victory in dramatic fashion, winning on the very last problem before an...
View ArticleThis Week in Climbing …
It’s been a somewhat disappointing fall. A large workload, and some unseasonably wet rock, has kept me off the sharp end of the rope and at the blunt end of my laptop keyboard for the past two weeks....
View ArticleEverest Coverage Continues …
A lot has been written about Everest’s darkest day, April 18, 2014, in which 16 sherpas died in an avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall after a large serac collapsed. This tragedy seems to have unleashed a...
View ArticleIt’s On Like Dawn for Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson
I just wrote a news story for National Geographic Adventure recapping Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson’s ongoing push—and highpoint—on their Dawn Wall project. Check it out. For the core climbing...
View ArticleMore Notes from the Dawn Wall
It’s difficult to capture in words the painstaking nuance and utter improbability that is really hard, really technical rock climbing such as what is going down on the Dawn Wall this week. Yet it’s...
View ArticleLive the Dream: Get Paid to Climb
The life of a sponsored climber is one to envy. Unlike other professional athletes who are beholden to such duties as playing for teams, showing up to practices and winning games, the sponsored climber...
View ArticleStunt of the Day: Ice Climbing Niagara Falls
One of the most popular stories on Evening Sends last year was one in which I wondered who would make the first ascent of Niagara Falls following its deep freeze from the Polar Vortex. I posted that...
View ArticleThis Week in Climbing
Well, well. If it isn’t the July 4th weekend? Looks like summer is officially here, which means my spring project just became my fall project. No need to bother with actual rock climbing this time of...
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