when climbing advertising rocks

as a photographer, i'm always on the lookout for compelling creative work. when i came across these ads for the cityROCK climbing gym in cape town, south africa, i almost peed my pants. not only are these the most interesting and compelling climbing advertisements i have ever seen, but they are also strong examples of how good concept-driven advertising can be.

kudos to the ad agency the jupiter drawing room cape town for daring to be interesting.


in the first ad we see a rad graffiti design sprayed impossibly to the underside of a bridge.



the second ad takes us to the scene of an extra-marital affair where the naked "trespasser" clings to the side of a ten story building.



the final print ad broadcasts the popularity of cityROCK as a children's party venue. a measuring wall proudly displays heights of three children aged 4, 6, and 8 - the oldest of which is somewhere close to rafters of the roof.

"the descent" - climbing rapps its way into the movies

in august, lionsgate will be releasing a horror film that apparently highlights some rock climbing. the movie follows the adventures of a group of female rappellers.

while i'm not a big fan of scary cinema, "the descent" might be a fun way to put the occasional scariness of climbing into perspective.

monsters and critics.com has an interview with a few of the actors in the film, including actress shauna macdonald, who plays sarah in the movie. she says:

"to prepare for the film we all did a course of climbing. i also did some private tutoring for climbing; even though it doesn't specifically state in the script that sarah is a climber i wanted to look like i could climb."

you can watch the creepy trailer here.

also, here's an interesting promo image from the film's website. i wonder if petzl, or other gear makers, paid for placement? hmm.

newbie introduces newbie

in today's denver post, my columnist friend cindy rodriguez writes about her first climbing experience. i took her to a local climbing gym this week:

maniacal sport? no, but climbing is addictive

"last week i got a taste of why so many people in this state are obsessed with rock climbing.

it was a dip-your-toe-in-the-water approach: my friend david mejías took me to rock'n & jam'n, a climbing gym in thornton."

you can read the whole column here: http://www.denverpost.com/rodriguez/ci_4033723

a first. 5.11 - well, sorta

i made it up my first indoor 5.11 climb last night. well, sort of. it was a 5.11-. i also made it up 3/4 of the way up a 5.11. the 5.10/5.11 barrier has perplexed me for a while. i'm not sure what's different now. hmmm.