2012 Ice Fest Face Off

A couple of weeks ago I was psyched to be photographing the Mount Washington Valley Ice Festival's Face Off mixed climbing competition again. Always a fun event, it's great to watch some of the region's strongest climbers go head-to-head on a completely manufactured, and somewhat silly climbing route. I mean, how often do you find yourself hooking your way up door hinges and PVC pipes? In the context of a mixed climbing competition, however, anything goes, especially anything that makes it more entertaining!

The two routes that competitors would battle over were set by my good friends Jim Ewing of Sterling Rope and Josh Hurst, two of the strongest mixed climbers in the northeast. Below, competitors Janet Bergman and Bayard Russell eye the route...


Prior to the comp kicking off, Canadian uber-climber Will Gadd ran a lap on the wall and then gave one of the best climbing presentations I have seen in a long time...


A couple of thank-yous by International Mountain Climbing School owners Brad White, below left, and Rick Wilcox. Then MC Freddie Wilkinson kicked things off...


One of the first climbers up was my friend Hillary. After a few moments spent energizing the crowd, Hill set off...


Silas Rossi kicked things off for the men, pulling down on the first PVC pipe...


Elliot Gaddy of IMCS putting up a strong effort, along with Lindsay Fixmer of Fox Mountain Guides...


Majka Burhardt pulling hard...


Women's winner Janet Bergman crushing...


Peter Doucette, also of IMCS, working his figure-fours...


Andrea putting up a strong showing, and Bayard Russell eying the first PVC pipe...


Men's winner Kevin Mahoney making his way across the foam "ice" feature, headed for the log, on his way to the win...


Congratulations to all of the Face Off climbers for putting your outstanding efforts and entertainment. Thanks also to the Ice Fest organizers for having me once again.

A great (birth)day

Today is Abby's third birthday. How could it not be a good day? But, in fact, it was a great day. We all as parents have visions of the things we will do with our kids. I've been waiting 3 years for today (not to make a HUGE deal about it or anything). I don't believe in pushing kids into things, but there is nothing wrong with providing a little opportunity in the "right" direction. So, on Wednesday my good friend friend Jim gave me a birthday present for Abby -- a children's climbing harness. This evening, after a couple of minutes convincing her the harness would not hurt her, she spent 10 minutes swing from the ceiling. Then my heart swelled as she decided to climb to the ceiling with a top rope belay and jump off. "Do again! Do again!" No need to twist my arm. I tried to get a little video, but it's tough filming while giving a hip belay to your toddler. I caught this 20 second clip and then ran out of memory. It's all I need though. Happy birthday, Abby. Get that turtle!

Maineline, finally

In the Spring of 2001 I moved from the mid-Atlantic to New Hampshire. At the time I'd been rock climbing for seven or eight years and ice climbing for about five. The mid-Atlantic, however, is not known for its stellar ice climbing. Sure there are some plums to be picked, but for "real" ice climbing I would venture north each winter to the Adirondacks of New York with my twin brother Keith. We had so many great times road-tripping north -- Roaring Brook Falls in about nine pitches, simul-soloing the cliffs of Pitchoff, freezing nights shivering while camped on Chapel Pond. But I hadn't yet swung an axe in New England proper. So, before I even moved to NH, one of the first things I did was pick up a copy of Rick Wilcox's Ice Climber's Guide to Northern New England. Before the the first frost of 2001, I had already dog-eared my copy, marking all of the classic lines that I had to do.

For my first outing in December I climbed the Black Dike on Cannon Mountain, one of the most classic. Over the next ten years I've ticked most of the climbs that so inspired me when I moved here... Repentance and Remission, Omega, Bragg-Pheasant, just to name few... as well as put up a few first ascents of my own. But one line, up in the back of beyond Maine, remained noticeably undone. Described in the guidebook as "surely one of New England's most spectacular ice climbs" and "more at home in the Canadian Rockies," Maineline is one of the most impressive pieces of steep ice around. But it's up there; way up there. Each year I would get psyched to go, and each year the four+ hour drive kept me closer to home where I could get more climbing done in my ever dwindling number of days out.

In a bit of a spur-of-the-moment decision, my good friends Jim, Josh and I made plans to go do Maineline. Sure it would be a long day, but it had to be done. The dog ear on that page of the book had to be unfolded. So, when I awoke yesterday at 4:30am I was dismayed to see lots of snow. This five hour drive just got a lot longer. But, plans were set, and as Jim always says, "you don't bail on your climbing partners." So, I put the car in drive and white-knuckled it to Falmouth, ME to pick up Jim. Then on to Newport to pick up Josh. Then to the back of beyond up past Greenville on Moosehead Lake and finally to Mt. Kineo. Six and a half hours later I parked. The sun was out, the sky blue and the route looked amazing from across the lake. Best of all, I was enjoying the day with my buddies. Jim makes me laugh too... Way up here you do feel like you've taken the plunge...


I had no frame of reference for this climb beyond the guidebook, but Josh and Jim, who have each done the climb several times, were amped about the current conditions. It sure looked good to me! This is pitch 2, at least when done in 3-4 pitches...


When we arrived a party from Orono was just starting up the climb. I was bummed. All this way and we were scooped. Instead, we started up a nearby feature to check out some future possibilities and perform some shenanigans. Half way up the pillar, our neighbor on Maineline took a bit of a, well, monster whipper. I'm talking 50+ feet. I've never seen someone fall so far. Scary does not describe it. He was shaken, experiencing some wrist pain, but otherwise unharmed (i.e. unbelievably F%$#ing lucky!). Their misfortune was our gain, and we rapped down to the start of Maineline. We offered to retrieve their high gear, and with that, I was off...


I led the first two pitches as one, finishing in an ice cave on the left-hand side. The left image above was taken by Jim when I was halfway up the column. Both Josh (shown above right) and Jim followed much faster than I led and joined me in the cave. Jim then led from the cave to the trees, finishing the route in two long pitches as the sun quickly faded. We rapped down, finishing in the dark, which was followed by a freezing walk back across the wind blown lake to the car at 6:30pm. Then it was a five hour drive home (more snow).

I'm super psyched to have finally climbed this amazing line and to be able to check off this long-standing, must-do New England ice climb. I can't say when exactly I will make the trek back to Kineo, but I now know first hand the jewel that resides way up in the back of beyond. Until then...

Ice Fest Face Off

This past Friday night was the Mount Washington Valley Ice Fest Face Off, a mixed climbing competition that brings together many of the strongest climbers from throughout New England. Now in its third year, the competition is fast becoming the highlight of Ice Fest and a great showcase for local hardmen and women. This year I was excited to be photographing the event for Ice Fest, which was made extra fun because I know 90% of the competitors and organizers.

The route this year was set by my good friends Jim Ewing and Josh Hurst, two of the best climbers around. Prior to the competitors arriving, I had a chance to pre-run the men's route, and Jim and Josh set a doosey! Big moves led to a hanging log traverse and then more long reaches through a roof. If you can't work multiple figure-fours in a row you'd get shut down on this route... I know I did!

The competition kicked off following some awesome home-grown climbing films, including a ten minute short by Jim Surette of Steve House soloing Repentance and Remission on Cathedral Ledge. I knew how the story ended -- Steve lived, of course -- but while watching I was convinced we were watching his last moves on this earth. Terrifying! Anyway, the competition began with the women pulling hard and crushing plastic. Here's Allison Colwell in complete control and looking strong...


The second competitor of the evening was Janet Bergman who breached the roof and gained the high point, earning her the win...


For the men's competition there were ten or eleven "invited" competitors and a couple of "wild card" entrants. The competition kicked off with Dana Seaton (left). Dana is a strong rock climber but I don't think he had ever mixed climbed before. Here he is inverted getting ready to tackle the log. At right Peter Doucette shows off some pull-up power...


Below is one of the "wild card" competitors, an Italian climber who's name I did not catch, embarking on the first of 4-5 figure-fours needed to cross the log...


Local guides Kevin Mahoney (left) and Bayard Russell (right) made impressive efforts, making it to the end of the traverse but unable to transition onto the roof...


Vermonter Matt McCormick (left) is shown under the first roof challenge, ready to enter the steeps. Matt climbed strong across the log and transitioned onto the Ice Holdz on the lip of the roof, but he was unable to progress further, earning him second place. On the right Josh Worley also from Vermont resets on the Ice Holdz...


Josh was able to make the three more long reaches to top out on the finishing jug and take the victory. He was the only climber to complete the route.

Congratulations to all of the competitors for your impressive efforts. And special thanks to all the organizers and volunteers who make Ice Fest such a wonderful event, one that I look forward to every year!

Two days with Kismet Rock Foundation

Back in August I was fortunate enough to spend two days with two exceptional groups of kids attending week-long courses with the Kismet Rock Foundation. It's hard to be a climber in the northeast and not at least have heard of Kismet, so I was super excited when Janet Bergman, Executive Director of Kismet, asked me if I would be willing to document a day of Kismet. Of course! How about two days! In their words, Kismet:

"...offers comprehensive courses in rock climbing and mountaineering to children who, because of financial limitations, would not otherwise have access to such an education. Based in North Conway, New Hampshire, (Kismet) accepts emotionally stable and well-functioning youth from both urban and rural areas into its programs. (Kismet's) goal is to offer children an opportunity to benefit from the immense value inherent in a climbing education."

Kismet was founded by Mike Jewell in 1999. By himself he introduced four students from New Jersey to rock climbing in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Today, although Kismet has grown immensely from that first class, Mike is still directly involved with every student who comes through the program.

Climbing has been a central focus in my life for the past 15 years, and therefore I could not honestly think of a better venue for kids to learn valuable life tools. There are so many parallels between climbing and life -- as my good friend Eric Hörst highlighted in his Mental Wings program -- that the concept of growth through a multi-year climbing program just makes perfect sense to me.

On my first day with Kismet I arrived at a house buzzing with activity. Breakfast being gulped down, dishes rattling in the sink, bags being packed. Excitement because we're going CLIMBING!

Below Mike Jewell runs through final checks before embarking with two students on a multi-pitch climb on Cathedral Ledge...


Below a student tackles pitch 3 of Thin Air, a classic moderate climb on Cathedral Ledge...


Bags packed, ropes coiled, off to another great climb and lesson...


Half way up Refuse on Cathedral Ledge, two students share a laugh with me. Proof positive that regardless of financial means, home life conditions, etc., at their root, kids will be kids. Laughing, joking, having fun in the great outdoors.


I love the focus in this young man's eyes, as well as the exposure beneath his feet. I have always said how exciting it is that climbing allows you to go places that less than 99% of the people in the world will ever go. This is one of those places, and he ought to be proud!


A student prepares to be lowered after completing a strenuous climb. She crushed it, and an ever attentive staff member lets her know it!


Half way up and still a long way to go on a multi-pitch climb on Cathedral Ledge...


Portrait of a Kismet student...


"What hold," she says. While clicking away I also embraced the opportunity to coach students through tricky cruxes and thought-to-be-impossible moves. In all instances the students succeeded. Sometimes you just have to look at the situation from a different perspective. The impossible can be possible if the problem is viewed differently. And don't hesitate to ask for help, either!


Each day we ended with a dip in the Saco River. It was great to watch the kids splash and play. Kids from all around New England -- rural towns, inner-city, all over -- splashing in a river...


When I showed up at Kismet I did not know the background of any of the kids I would be hanging out with for those two days. I still don't know any particulars, but I know most of these kids have overcome a lot to get to this place. I grew up playing in the mountains as a Boy Scout, ultimately earning my Eagle Scout and guiding in the Adirondacks of New York. At the time I accepted this as normal, as the way things were for kids. What Kismet offers disadvantaged youths for a week each summer is far from their "normal." I am grateful for the opportunities I have been afforded in my life. This summer I was grateful to be able to spend a couple of days sharing some of those same outdoor experience with a dozen kids who may otherwise not have had the opportunity. My two days spent with Kismet were fantastic. I had so much fun getting to know these kids, and the staff, and I am already looking forward to next year.

Learning something new...

Experiencing new things, and therefore learning new things is pretty much what gets me out of bed in the morning. For the past couple of years that has been super easy, what with a 20 month old in the house and all. I find it harder, though, to keep up with all the things I want to learn about. That is, things that will help me move my work and my career forward, or that I just find interesting (not that my daughter is not!). Slowing down and taking a little time for yourself is important, even if it's hard to do some times.

Growing up I always enjoyed art. I learned to paint and throw clay and all sorts of other things, but pencil drawing was my favorite. I became a perfectionist. Alas, this was my downfall because as I began to work and have less and less free time I grew more and more frustrated with my drawings. I just couldn't put in the time to produce what I envisioned. I didn't abandon pencil drawing, but moved on to something else. Enter photography. Starting something new is always exciting. The learning curve is steep. Every roll of fill was discovery. I was hooked, and have been fortunate to do many different things with my photography.

Now, I don't see putting down my camera any time soon, but I must admit I was very excited when Canon began incorporating video and HD capabilities into their DSLR cameras. Here was an opportunity to learn something entirely new utilizing a tool I already had! Time is still a huge challenge, but I learned quickly that video capture is really just one piece of the pie. Post-production is an art unto itself... and a rather technical one at that. So after a year+ of shooting clips of my daughter and general randomness, I finally decided I needed to try to learn post-production. And boy is it exciting! Daunting, but exciting.

Below is my first ever edited video. It is a compilation of video that I shot one evening training in my climbing gym this past winter, combined with a silly video clip that my friend Mike shot. As far as videos go, this is rather pointless, but like my daughter who is so proud of the blob she just finger painted, I am pretty psyched to be starting to get the hang of it. With wedding season about to kick-off I am not sure when video experiment #2 will happen, but I have a lot of footage from our recent family vacation to Mexico to work with when the time comes!

Video Experiment #1: Training for mixed climbing from Eric McCallister on Vimeo.

Mike William's New River Gorge guidebook is out!

It was awhile ago that I heard from Mike Williams about his plans to write a new guidebook to the New River Gorge in scenic West Virginia, and that he was looking for photographs to include. In 2004, Eric Hörst and I collaborated on a guidebook to Bubba City at the New following several years of new route development. In 2006 we published an updated version to the guide, which incorporated the more the 150 new climbs that we established. Since that time, new route activity at the New and nearby Meadow, as well as other cliffs, has intensified. The New was relatively dormant for a long time, and Bubba seemed to kick it off again. Very cool, and now the need for a comprehensive guide. Enter Mike...

I just received my advanced copy of Mike's New River Gorge Rock Climbs in the mail yesterday and I have to say, this book is a work of art. Exceptionally well done. And I am not just biased because a half dozen of my photos grace the pages. Many guides to the New have been written, but Mike's is something special. It's on par, and maybe exceeds, Rick Thompson's last edition of New River Rock published in 1997 -- which was THE New River tome! My only criticism is that I would have loved to see a local climber grace the cover, not a CA visitor... but it's a dramatic photo (not mine)...

So, I was excited to receive a copy of the book. Below are a few images I snapped on the dining room table. All told, I believe there are six of my images featured. Not too shabby for a New Hampshire boy!



This last image is a personal favorite of mine. Good friend Charles from TN is featured climbing a route that Eric Hörst and I established called The Decameron 5.10b. At the time of this photo Chaz was almost 70 years old. He and his wife Cindy are fixtures at Bubba City and continue to inspire me!

Danger: Falling Ice

A week and a half ago Bayard Russell climbed the long coveted Painted Wall Icicle off of the Kancamangus Highway in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The photo at right is of Bayard during the first ascent, taken by Kevin Mahoney of Mahoney Alpine Adventures.

Four or five years ago Jim Ewing and I wanted to check out the huge pillar that regularly formed and then fell off, but on my closest attempt we simply drove by and went to climb Omega on Cannon instead. Jim went back once in the following years, but no real attempts were made, at least by us. Others, however, were scoping the line too, and a couple of years ago a true effort was launched to dispatch the line by Bayard, Josh Hurst and Doug Madera, among others. Bayard wrote about it here, but long story short, when the ice was there the rock moves proved too challenging, and once the rock moves were sussed out there was no ice. Murphy's Law, right?

So, this year during a very early form-up, Bayard snagged the line and opened the door for the rest of us. Two days later Josh Hurst and I were standing at the base eager to climb the second ascent. The previous day the route was baked by the sun, as most Painted Wall routes are on bluebird days, but the forecast was for overcast skies and flurries... perfect conditions. The forecasters got it wrong, however, and shortly after reaching the base of the route (after a much earned approach from several miles away because the river was not frozen and the Albany bridge was under construction!) the skies parted and the sun came out in force. This did not bode well. The pillar was huge, as can be seen below, but pieces of ice were constantly raining down from everywhere above us. Josh started with a burn on the M9 mixed rock pitch to refresh his memory of the moves.


While on route, the pillar left of our objective crashed to the ground. Prior to that collapse our guts told us that there was too much sun and not enough adhesion holding the ice to the wall. Following Josh, I took a burn up to the mid-point anchor to learn the moves and acquaint myself with the climb. Such cool movement!


After a short rest Josh geared up for a redpoint attempt on the rock pitch, as seen above pulling the first crux. Slow and strong, Josh was crushing it. Near the top of the pitch Josh had an axe shift and skid out of a crack, resulting in a fall. As it turns out, this was a rather good thing.


Just a few minutes after getting back on-route and climbing higher, Josh heard the pillar groan. He chose to back-aid away from the pillar, and then, out of the blue, the pillar detached and plummeted to the ground. It simply ripped from the wall and fell straight to the ground, and then disintegrated on impact. Josh described it as if a semi-truck tore by 5 feet behind him. And like that, our hopes of a second ascent, at least until the route has time to form up again, were dashed.

I took the opportunity to take two more training laps on the rock pitch. Not only was I able to better suss out the tricky sequences down low, but also get a little extra workout. The Painted Wall Icicle is definitely a plum line, and an instant classic. I am looking forward to getting back to it some time very soon!

Surgical Air Strike '09 (aka my Fall climbing trip)

Prior to "lift off," I calculated that it had been over 17 months since I'd last taken a Western climbing trip. In those 17 months my life has been made infinitely richer by the birth of my daughter. My climbing has suffered, but seeing as she is now showing an interest in scaling the climbing wall in the cellar that may be changing! Anyhow, it was with great excitement that I booked my $0.40 ticket to Las Vegas (I love credit card points!) for a climbing trip with my good friend Eric Hörst. Reality is still a 15-month old girl at home, and two working parents, so this trip was not the 12 day climbing fest that I so often try to book. This was a four day blitz of all-new climbing locales!

Three AM Wednesday morning I was up and coaxing myself out the door for a 6:00 AM flight out of MHT. By 10:40 AM we were both wandering around LAS baggage claim trying to find each other. A Crackberry is a useful tool, but it won't help you locate someone amongst a throng of eager, soon-to-be gamblers and night crawlers. By 12:30 PM we were parked at Red Rocks and ready to climb!


Several routes later we were exhausted -- more from our early flights than the climbing -- and departed for dinner and our drive up to Mesquite where we would be staying. Our agenda was a couple of days in the Utah Hills. For anyone traveling to this area, I highly recommend staying at the Falcon Ridge Hotel. It's super clean, comfortable and cheap ($60/night including taxes).

Thursday morning, still on East coast time, we were out the door way to early and headed to The Cathedral. Cold fingers on the warm-up led to a fantastic send for Eric with a redpoint of Space Shuttle to Kolob 5.13a.


Space Shuttle is a little out of my pseudo-retired-league (well, that's how it was beginning to feel!), so I enjoyed shooting photos and getting on other climbs. The routes here are steep and sustained, and therefore loads of fun. Around mid-morning, we met up with Misty Murphy and her husband Bill Ohran, along with John Star. Super-nice locals; I benefited greatly from their beta!


Resurrection 5.13b was on Misty's agenda. Rad looking climb, and strong showing Misty!


Friday was another early start, but instead at the Black & Tan Wall. B&T is a much sunnier crag (The Cathedral does not get any sun this time of year), so it was nice being in shorts and T-shirts. This was a mileage day, and I was excited to climb as many or more sport pitches on Friday as I had climbed all season back here in New Hampshire!

On Saturday we headed to Mt. Charleston outside Las Vegas. I loved the pocketed climbing at The Hood area, but even more so the Aspen trees that were starting to turn!


We climbed several routes at The Hood, and then chose to end the day at a smaller crag called Pirate's Cove. The climbs were shorter and fun, but I would like to add also the sharpest stone I have ever grappled! I hear Robber's Roost is similar, but I hope not since there are climbs there that look like fun for future trips! We finished on two side-by-side, steep, pocketed 5.11 routes that were a perfect end to a fantastic day, and trip.

That's right, the end of the trip. Saturday night Eric and I had red-eye flights back to PHL and MHT, respectively. As I mentioned before, I would have loved to have had a much longer trip with rest days thrown in, but if you are going to do a four day climbing trip, I love the efficiency of actually only being gone four days and getting four full climbing days in, even if the travel was a little exhausting. I was back in NH by 9:30AM Sunday, and home with Abby and Rebecca by 11:00AM, having been climbing in Vegas less than 12 hours earlier!

Go West young man...

It's been awhile since I took a climbing trip. Seventeen months actually, but who's counting. Sure, I've had some great days at the local crags, but nothing beats a climbing road trip. I've been training regularly, including running, and am feeling pretty good. It's not going to be a long trip, more of a blitz really, but child care is not allowing for much more. It's alright though, since I'll probably miss my daughter fiercely anyway. So, with a couple of workouts left, and in just a few short days, I will be landing in Vegas and pulling down on and photographing glorious sandstone at Red Rocks and limestone in the Utah Hills.

Helping Layton Kor

My good friend Stewart Green has been helping to spearhead a project to raise money to cover medical expenses for legendary climber Layton Kor. Stewart started selling limited edition signed prints of Kor earlier this year, and has recently helped launch a website promoting the efforts called LaytonKorClimbing.com. One of the great new fund raising ideas is a raffle for a day of climbing with other great climbers. Steph Davis, Jimmie Dunn, Tommy Caldwell, Conrad Anker and another great friend Eric Hörst are all donating a day of guiding classic Kor routes to raffle winners. I am very happy to have one of my photographs from the New River Gorge featured on the site for this great cause. Check it out, and consider buying a raffle ticket.

Tribute video for Micah, Jonny and Wade

This is a fantastic tribute video to these three extraordinary climbers and individuals from www.adventurefilm.org.

So long friends

Last Friday (6/5) emails started flying and message boards buzzing with the news of three climbers lost on an expedition to a remote part of China after missing their flight home on the 3rd. Saturday I learned that Jonny Copp's body was found amongst avalanche debris, with a public announcement coming on Sunday. On Monday fellow photographer and videographer Wade Johnson's body was found. Up to that point I retained hope that Wade and the third climber, Micah Dash, were hunkered down further up the mountain, possibly injured and stranded but largely OK. The discovery of Wade stole that positive energy away from me. Today, Wednesday, there is still no sign of Micah. A team of four U.S. climbers is now on the mountain continuing the search for our missing friend, and word is that the weather is bad and the search will likely end soon. It's a sad day. A sad week, really. I didn't have what certainly would have been the great pleasure of meeting Jonny or Wade, but knew Micah, both from my few encounters with him in camp or at the cliffs and though close friends who knew him well. I am deeply saddened by his loss, and even more so that he may never come home from Mt. Edgar. As climbers we all take well calculated risks. But no amount of calculating will always protect from an indiscriminate Mother Nature, especially when traveling at the cutting edge of our sport, as Micah and Jonny did. I would love to believe that Micah, Jonny and Wade were at least taken while living an experience that all of us as climbers mostly dream of -- big, radical first ascents -- and doing what they loved. It doesn't help me rationalize the loss, however. I've enjoyed following Micah and Jonny's adventures and will miss that greatly. As many have said, and unfortunately I am afraid will continue to say, it is often the brightest stars which burn out the fastest. This is without question a truth here. They will each be missed for a very long time.

For more information on this tragic accident, or to donate to the search effort, please visit www.adventurefilm.org.

Photo: Micah Dash climbing in the Utah Hills by Eric Horst, late March 2009, about a month before leaving for China.

Dash, Copp and Johnson missing in China

Climbers Micah Dash, Jonny Copp and Wade Johnson have gone missing in a remote part of the Western Sichuan Province in China. They've not been heard from since the 20th, and missed their flight home on June 3. They were attempting a new route on Mt. Edgar, and reports out of China are of an avalanch that may have swept the climbers off the mountain.

I've never met Jonny Copp or Wade Johnson, but have met and enjoyed speaking with Micah. He is also good friends with several close friends of mine here in NH, in AZ and in PA. Nick Martino is en route to China with Eric Decaria. I'm crossing my fingers and sending prayers for Micah and his friends safe return, and wishing Nick and Eric luck. Go find them!

For those interested, news is being posted here, and please help and make a donation for the search/recovery of these inspirational climbers.

Buy a rope

That is what advertising is for, to entice you to buy something. In this case, a climbing rope. A new ad that I designed for Sterling Rope is now running in Climbing and Rock & Ice magazines. The ad features a fantastic photo of Chris Sharma by Keith Ladzinski (always a pleasure to work with Keith) and three product shots which I did in my studio. Check out the thumbnail of the ad below. Don't you feel like buying a rope now? Cheers,

About.com article on Silent Spring

My good friend Stewart Green from Colorado Springs, CO just wrote a nice little piece on his About.com Climbing Blog about the new mixed climb Silent Spring, put up by friend Josh Hurst this past March. Most likely the hardest mixed climb in the Northeast, and maybe one of the hardest in the country, this climb looks INCREDIBLE; incredibly hard too! Stew contacted me about the route and I was happy to provide him some background info. I was subsequently quoted in the article. This is a small niche piece, but I'm psyched on Stew's blog and to post about it myself to help spread the word. Check it out: Stewart Green's Silent Spring blog post