[singlepic id=99 w=320 h=240 float=none] Jen Vennon had a great finish to the season last year with this ascent, her first 5.14, and the first of many to come. Like I say in this video, which our friend Joe Kinder shot and edited, Jen is an absolute technique ninja....
Andrew Bisharat
Andrew Bisharat is a writer and climber based in western Colorado. He is the publisher of Evening Sends and the co-host of The RunOut podcast.
FA or FU?
Sometimes you hear people bemoan the dearth of climbers out there who are willing to roll up their sleeves and put up first ascents. Sometimes the people complaining are the more fanatic first ascentionists themselves—though I believe their grousing is essentially...
Unified Bouldering Championships
I shot and edited this video last fall at the UBC tour at the Nor'Easter 2010, Loon Mountain, New Hampshire
Unconscionably Fashionable: Brief History of Climbing Clothing
What is climbing’s biggest taboo? Bolting cracks? Chipping holds? Stealing a redtagged route? No, no and … no! Climbing’s biggest taboo is admitting that the sport has fashion—and further, that you buy into it, too. Oh, you do. I’ve seen you. You definitely try to...
Back to the Future of Climbing
The music rippled through the fall air, crisp and bright as a Red Delicious apple. The thumping drums that were laced into the treble by the DJ evoked some kind of tempered Persian hedonism and, indeed, before the audience there stood two large white Arabesque tents....
Breathing Pulse of Life
What do you like about climbing? I often feel as though I am unable to give a good answer to that question, at least in all the ways that I think I ought to or should be able to. Our lives as climbers follow very linear trends, predictable arcs in which we make goals...
Guys’ Weekend
The female of the house was gone this weekend, and in place of her tender companionship and soft equipoise was a reeking rabble of three, my boys, all of whom leaped at this strange opportunity to get drunk and break shit with me. In other words, Guys’ Weekend. Even...
Bishop Road Trip
Last week, Jen and I packed up the van and headed west on a road trip to Bishop. The plan was to stop in Ibex, which is halfway between Carbondale and Bishop, and climb for a weekend, and then keep rolling. Road trips are ultimately liberating. The open road,...
F’d in the A
Last week, I was exuberant about my impulsive decision to jump on the cheap last-minute airfare from Aspen to El Paso for three glorious days of bouldering at Hueco Tanks with my robo-girlfriend JEN-tron 3000. These types of hasty decisions are gambles, and just like...
Training 2010
Wise people admit their mistakes easily. I must be dumb, because for the last few years, I’ve noticed myself falling into a very predictable routine in terms of my climbing performance. Usually, I train for a couple months during the winter simply by bouldering...
Turning the Corner
Winter is always a difficult time of year for me. Thank god there is football, although even that was difficult for me to watch. Seeing the proud Giants start out 5-0 only to fall apart like a bunch of pathetic cowards made me feel like I was reliving every terrible...
Gym Loser (me)
Climbing and Ego are as interminably intertwined as space and time. The reality-experience of moving up in the world—on a climb or otherwise—affirms everything about who the person is and what they are made of—or,not made of, as the case may often be. But nowhere in...