who needs climbing tape?

if you have hansaplast extreme band-aids, your raw overworked fingers are as good as new. according to this slovenian ad anyway.



this spot features climber chad greedy and was apparently shot in one of colorado's most popular climbing destinations - eldorado canyon or "eldo" as it is often referred to.

thanks to brian solano for the story lead.

362 u.s. climbing gyms

here's a list of climbing gyms by city and state. you also get wall size and pricing information.

http://rockgymlist.com/

pretty useful if you're on the road and need some plastic.

i see mountains in the oddest places

i was in nyc last week for a photography conference. here's a view from my friend kevin's manhattan bedroom.

mountain logos abound

i was watching the daily show and noticed a commercial for a film produced by summit entertainment. interesting mountain logo i thought.

then came, how many more of these logos can i think of?

after spending a few hours surfing my memory and the internet (i need a life ...), i put together this small sample of mountainous brands.

(go rockies!)

hey reader. who are you?

most nights, before bed, i log onto the control panel (funny term, eh?) of newclimber.com and look at the site statistics for the previous 24 hours. you can learn a lot about a website and its visitors from these numbers. for example, with halloween just around the corner, search engines seem to like to hook people up with my "best (worst?) mountaineering costume ever" story. it's a popular posting right now.

but these "hit" numbers don't tell the whole story. i still don't know about the real people who randomly end up here after searching for, say, clif family wines, or about the folks who have this site's feed bookmarked.

so i'm curious. who the heck are ya? how did you end up here? are you a climber? a new climber?

it would be great to hear from you. if you want to tell me/us more, here are two options: 1) post a public comment on this story and tell us a bit about you and your connection with the diary or 2) for you shy folks, write me at david (at) newclimber.com and tell me what brought you here today.

i won't beg, but please don't leave us hangin'. we're so very much counting on you!

hot aspiring models hit the climbing gym

i have one very guilty reality tv pleasure: america's next top model (or, as it is known to fans, antm.) stop laughing. i can hear you!

former super model tyra banks hosts this weekly time suck on my tivo. the show is predictable. hot girls, the occassional cat fight, and dramatic elimination rounds. still, i can't stop watching. the fashion photography the show generates is pretty interesting however.

last night's episode showed the twelve remaining models wearing expensive fashions up high on a gym's climbing wall.



this is a photo of jenah who won the photo critique this week. during the show she shared that she taught at a climbing gym for two years. not surpring. look at the girl's mad rope management skills!

if you are a drooling hetero-male/lesbian/fashionista/drag-queen who dreams of women in fancy dresses scaling walls, you can view more photos of the other models "climbing" on the show's website.

don't go see this movie: into the wild

into the wild opened in theaters a week or so ago.

the film was inspired by a true story and directed by sean penn. it looks pretty great. plot summary: "after graduating from emory university, top student and athlete christopher mccandless abandons his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to alaska to live in the wilderness. along the way, christopher encounters a series of characters that shape his life."

the reason you shouldn't go see this movie? i'm selfish. i don't want my [few] readers to finally decide to pursue their dirtbaggin' dreams and leave me blogging all solo.



for you text lovers, there's also a book by the same title written by noted outdoor writer and mountaineer jack krakauer.

scott helvenston: navy seal, blackwater employee, and climber

this photo and the headline "mom: blackwater should never forget my boy" was the lead story on cnn.com tonight.

the photo immediately caught my attention.

scott helvenston was killed in a horrific attach in fallujah, iraq in March 2004. he was employed by the security firm blackwater. blackwater has been embroiled in scandal lately over some seriously questionable operating practices.

the story about scott's mom's battle with blackwater can be read here:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/02/blackwater.falluja/index.html

scott was an avid climber and led numerous mountain-climbing expeditions.