Towns and Trails

The First Annual South Adirondack Rock Climbing Festival was this past weekend (9/5/08).  Taking place at Shanty Cliffs (near Siamese Ponds in Warren County, NY).

It was a small, first time festival… and so the turn out was light.  But from the report it sounds like they had a good time.

The forecast was lousy and for once, the weather complied with the prognosticators. We were late and lazy. Advertising didn’t happen: word of our event barely made it out before it began. But we carried on, ignoring the rain, and held the first Southern Adirondack Rock(climbers’) Fest at Shanty Cliffs anyway.

I would have loved to consider going, but unfortunately did not get word of the event till after the fact.  So here is hoping that Jay Harrison, who seems to have put a lot of thought and work into this one, will give it a go next year as well.

If anyone ever questions the perpetual state of sales that outdoor retailers are in… they just need to browse through my inbox from the past month.  3 pages of 20 to 25% off sales announcements from just about every major retailer, covering just about every day I was away.

I am sure there is marketing research out there that shows consumers are more likely to buy something if it is on sale - but I still wish they would just permanently reduce their prices by 20% and stop with the smoke and mirrors.  That way if we saw there was a sale, we would know it was legit and could really get excited.

Anyway, I skimmed them all and didn’t see any noteworthy… including the ‘big’ labor day sales.

I got a comment from a reader who pointed out that I had the month wrong for the Wakely Ultra run.  Oops!  No idea what I was thinking there, but my apologies and I edited the post.

As I settle in this month expect a much more active blog.

Jess actually went through with it… she married me.

We had an amazing Justice of the Peace ceremony at a ‘camp’ on Brewster Peninsula in Lake Placid with a few friends and family. The whole week went about as perfect as I could have imagined it. A great location, some good rock climbing, a nice hike, paddling around Placid, and lots of good times with good people.

My original intent was to blog about the run up to the wedding, but things sure got hectic in a hurry… so now that we are back and things have settled down (sort of) I will be upping my post count and recapping our Adirondack wedding.

I also have a lot of other things planned for the site in the next few months. I’ll be switching hosts and looking to do some gear/destination reviews, along with an interview or two. Stay tuned!

Awhile ago Jess and I became very interested in rock and ice climbing. Taking to it with all of the obsessive zeal that we tend to bring to new interests.

In a short period of time we booked multiple guided trips. Read everything on the subject we could get our hands on. Hit the local Quincy Quarries just about every nice day. Visited the rock gyms religiously, and attended presentations from ‘famous’ climbers who came through the area… hell, we even had ‘movie nights’ where we would watch climbing films ranging from instructional to absurd (think Sylvester Stallone).

That summer and winter were some of the best times I have had in the outdoors. And yet, we sort of… just stopped. We stopped climbing. There is no one specific reason, just lots of small ones - but all along we kept saying to each other “let’s get back into it!”

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Just updating the post from a few days ago about the 3 hikers who got trapped on Rainier in a blizzard, killing one of them.

The two survivors are now safely off the mountain, but it is being reported today that the man who died (31-year-old Eduard Burceag) sacrificed himself to save the others. He laid down on the snow and allowed the others to lay on top of him… essentially using his body as insulation from the cold. In doing so, he lost his life, but saved the lives of his wife and friend.

Tough story to digest.

Here is the AP update from MSNBC

Like most of the major vendors, it seems EMS is in a constant state of 20 to 30% off sales… with only the reason for the sale changing.

So their Memorial Day sale ran right into this Summer Sale. 30% off packs, 20% off sandals, stuff like that.

However, I did find this kind of cool and interesting. Their climbing school is running a kind of Father’s Day special. (looks like it also includes Grads too… ya know, the whole Dads and Grads theme)

What are you getting Dad this Father’s Day?
A new necktie? Old Spice? Why not give Dad a day of adventure! Climb with Dad any Day in June and we’ll take 50% off Dad’s climb, climb on Father’s Day and we’ll throw in a $50 Gift card good towards any multi-day winter climb!

That is actually pretty cool, though I am not sure why the gift card can only be used on winter climbs… seems like they are trying too hard to get you spread it around a little. Man, if my dad climbed or hiked at all I would be jumping all over this - unfortunately he doesn’t, so he is getting the Old Spice.

A blizzard trapped 3 climbers on the mountain Tuesday, two men and a woman in their 30s.   Reports are that they were experienced hikers/climbers out for a day hike when poor conditions trapped them on the Muir snowfield.  One man, the woman’s husband, did not make it.  The other two are in stable condition and being tended to at Muir Camp (10,000 feet) while awaiting clear weather for a rescue.

Scary stuff.

Here is the AP report from MSNBC

International Mountain Climbing School in North Conway New Hampshire will be holding its 16th annual Women’s Rock Weekend this June 21st and 22nd.

The two day itinerary looks like it will include a little something for everyone. From Basics clinics to Self Rescue and Big Wall Techniques. There is even a Mothers and Daughters climb which is new this year. And of course, there will be evening activities.

Women’s Rock Weekend clinics will be led by professional women guides from IMCS and professional “celebrity” women guides flying in from all corners of the country to join the event.

Registration is required for all of the clinics, the dinner, and slideshows. Call or email IMCS for more info.

Summary: A subtle, but solid, redesign of what was one of the better outdoor retail sites to begin with.

On May 28th REI launched a redesigned website.

You can check out their overview of the redesign here: http://www.rei.com/features/redesignOverview.html

Although not a drastic change, the first thing that will probably strike visitors is that the layout and interface have been altered. The new design is subtle and clean. I’m not a big fan of “look at me, I’m in your face!” flash sites and REI avoids that here. Actually, when I first ran across the new site a week ago while looking into wedding registries (a blog for another day) it took me several moments to realize something was different. That is a good sign, it means even though I was on autopilot that day the site was intuitive enough that it didn’t require me to stop and look around to figure things out.

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Posting about The Great Adirondack Trail Run and the Wakely Dam Ultra today got me to thinking about some of the concerns organized trail runs like these can raise.

In the case of the Great Adirondack Trail Run, I know The Mountaineer and its sponsors have occasionally come under criticism from people worried about environmental impact. I have never attended the race, but it sounds as if everything possible is being done to minimize impact to the trail and its surroundings. The course is on a mix of public and private land… it follows a deserted trail for a portion of the race… registration for the more strenuous of the two races, and the one that dips into public lands, is limited… porta potties are provided, as well as shuttles… the starts are staggered… littering will earn you an immediate DQ… and volunteers apparently sweep the trail behind the run to make sure there is no litter or damage. Given the positive contribution this event has to local environmentally focused charities it would appear any minor impact is more than offset.

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