I got a climbing photo published in Rock & Ice magazine! It is the Parting Shot in the April issue.
And here is the original shot. (I never showed it to you guys, but it's where the title bar of this blog comes from.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Neal Sipahimalani on Cherry Red - 5.14a
One of the many benefits of spending time in Red River Gorge, Kentucky is seeing my friends work on some pretty incredible climbing projects. On March 12 Neal Sipahamilani came super close to sending Cherry Red at The Sanctuary in Muir Valley, a 5.14a (which means friggity hard). From the angle I was taking photos its hard to appreciate the angle of overhang that Neal is climbing on.
Neal is one of those guys that make climbing look easy. He never seems to struggle even if he does fall; every move is calculated and smooth. He overcomes a slight height disadvantage with ease, and but his light build he definitely uses to his advantage. He's young and only going to continue to get stronger. I can't wait to see where climbing takes him.
Neal is one of those guys that make climbing look easy. He never seems to struggle even if he does fall; every move is calculated and smooth. He overcomes a slight height disadvantage with ease, and but his light build he definitely uses to his advantage. He's young and only going to continue to get stronger. I can't wait to see where climbing takes him.
More Photos After the Break! -->
Monday, March 21, 2011
Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race Portraits
Outdoor climbing season has started! I spent the last two weekend climbing in Red River Gorge and I'm super excited to spend as many weekends down there as possible. I'm still working at catching up from being gone for a month, but things are coming along slowly. I wanted to share some portraits I took of the adventure racers before the race started last month in Punta Arenas, Chile.
I was only able to shoot a handful of the racers because of time restraints, but I would love to continue this series next year. They were shot on a white screen inside a large hanger door on a cloudy day, which gave an incredible quality of light.
I was only able to shoot a handful of the racers because of time restraints, but I would love to continue this series next year. They were shot on a white screen inside a large hanger door on a cloudy day, which gave an incredible quality of light.
Daniel Staudigel - USA - Team GearJunkie.com
Chelsey Gribbon - USA - Team GearJunkie.com
Chelsey Gribbon - USA - Team GearJunkie.com
Jason Magness - USA - Team GearJunkie.com
Marcelo Sinoca - Brazil - Team Selva NKS Kailash
Rose Hoeppner - Brazil - Team Selva NKS Kailash
Ricardo da Silva - Brazil - Team Selva NKS Kailash
Carlos Fonseca - Brazil - Team Selva NKS Kailash
Marcelo Catalán - Brazil - Team Xingu
Tasman Lawrie - Australia - Team Four Continents
Andre Vogel - Australia - Team Four Continents
Paulette Kirby - USA - Team Four Continents
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Gear Review: Nemo Espri 2P
I had the pleasure of trying out a great lightweight tent during my time in Patagonia last month. Nemo Equipment sent me the Espri 2P to test.
The Espri 2P is a nice three season tent. It's great for backpacking because of the size and weight, and ease of set up and take down. When I first took it out of the box I found the packed length (at around 20 inches) a bit unwieldy, but that's only because of the tent I looked at before (the Meta2, which is roughly the size of a cantaloupe when packed but doesn't come with poles). If you take the poles out of the tent bag it does compress to roughly the size of a cantaloupe. One small oversight by Nemo is not making the tent bag a compression sac. I used third party straps to keep the bag as small as possible.
With the tent compressed, I could get both my 20º down sleeping bag and the Nemo tent in the bottom of my backpack. This is a huge improvement over tents I have used in the past that generally take over the outside of my backpack.
When you take the poles out of their bag the first thing you realize is the two poles are attached in the middle. If you just throw the poles out and shake them for a bit and they almost find their way together. One side of the poles is slightly more bent than the other and shaded with a darker grey. I didn't have the instructions, but I quickly found that the poles only fit when installed in one direction. The more bent, darker ends are the back. After a few wrong turns it's easy to determine which side is which, even in the dark. The lightweight but extremely sturdy poles snap naturally into place at the corners of the tent; Nemo used a ball and socket joint that is extremely intuitive and terribly hard to mess up. The center piece on the poles connects to a corresponding plastic button on the tent. Once the poles are in place and the center of the tent is attached, popping the rest of the plastic tent connectors onto the poles is a breeze and the mesh tent is up. This would be great for a warm summer night, allowing tons of air to flow freely through the tent.
The fly easily attaches, also connecting to the corners of the tent with a simple snap-on mechanism. It doesn't cover the entire tent but covers all of the essential mesh areas. The fly has a built-in vent to keep condensation to a minimum. The detachable vestibule provides additional space to store your gear outside of the tent but away from the rain. An optional trekking-pole vestibule gives you even more space, but it was unavailable for me to test.
The Espri 2P comfortably fits two, keeps you dry even in the extremes of southern Patagonia, and is lightweight enough to carry with you on backpacking adventures (or from the car to the campsite 15ft away). I'm impressed by Nemo's quality and ingenuity. Check out their other great designs at www.nemoequipment.com.
The Espri 2P is a nice three season tent. It's great for backpacking because of the size and weight, and ease of set up and take down. When I first took it out of the box I found the packed length (at around 20 inches) a bit unwieldy, but that's only because of the tent I looked at before (the Meta2, which is roughly the size of a cantaloupe when packed but doesn't come with poles). If you take the poles out of the tent bag it does compress to roughly the size of a cantaloupe. One small oversight by Nemo is not making the tent bag a compression sac. I used third party straps to keep the bag as small as possible.
With the tent compressed, I could get both my 20º down sleeping bag and the Nemo tent in the bottom of my backpack. This is a huge improvement over tents I have used in the past that generally take over the outside of my backpack.
When you take the poles out of their bag the first thing you realize is the two poles are attached in the middle. If you just throw the poles out and shake them for a bit and they almost find their way together. One side of the poles is slightly more bent than the other and shaded with a darker grey. I didn't have the instructions, but I quickly found that the poles only fit when installed in one direction. The more bent, darker ends are the back. After a few wrong turns it's easy to determine which side is which, even in the dark. The lightweight but extremely sturdy poles snap naturally into place at the corners of the tent; Nemo used a ball and socket joint that is extremely intuitive and terribly hard to mess up. The center piece on the poles connects to a corresponding plastic button on the tent. Once the poles are in place and the center of the tent is attached, popping the rest of the plastic tent connectors onto the poles is a breeze and the mesh tent is up. This would be great for a warm summer night, allowing tons of air to flow freely through the tent.
The fly easily attaches, also connecting to the corners of the tent with a simple snap-on mechanism. It doesn't cover the entire tent but covers all of the essential mesh areas. The fly has a built-in vent to keep condensation to a minimum. The detachable vestibule provides additional space to store your gear outside of the tent but away from the rain. An optional trekking-pole vestibule gives you even more space, but it was unavailable for me to test.
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| A double rainbow in the fjords of southern Patagonia. |