As you may or may not know, many people on twitter will tweet out recommendations of who they think others should follow every Friday. (despite me initially thinking #FF meant Foo Fighters). Because Snooki does this, I thought we should too!
The above photo comes from www.adventure-journal.com. The Adventure Journal is one of my favorite places to go and check on awesome products, industry news, great photography, and stories about people pushing the limit. One such story that caught my attention is this story about "dry tooling." This is something I hadn't heard of before, but essentially it is ice climbing without the ice. It looks crazy and is somewhat controversial. Click the photo to check out more.
We're no experts in climbing. I'll be the first to admit that. But we're learning, and we're trying to get better. Even if we were experts, we'd still be trying to get better. In an effort to learn and grow, I found this retro (if 1993 would be considered retro) video explaining some basic technique in climbing. Though outdated in clothing style, I think the content is quite relevant.
Essentially you can throw yourself at a wall, and sometimes you'll stick. But if you want to go from playing vertical twister to doing yoga up a wall, you'll need to understand these concepts.
I particularly think it is important to think of your whole body in every move. How does your body's momentum shift? How do your feet move when you reach? How do your hips twist as you climb? How aware are you of your next hold? Do you need to look down to find your next foot, or does your mind's eye remember? How can you climb so that those watching will think, "that looks easy!"?
Try to make it to the end of the video. I know it's a somewhat lengthy video for YouTube, but the very last segment is my favorite. It's about climbing blind. I'm vary interested in this as an exercise to increase your body's awareness. There are some routes where I have pretty good muscle memory. Maybe I'll give them a shot with my eyes closed and see how it goes!
-Jonathan
I take no credit for this video. If you would like to see more, check out therealudini's YouTube channel.
I came across this video last night despite it being two years old. I have always had a fascination with photography and especially extreme sports photography. Seeing someone skiing backwards down a half pipe during the X Games with a camera strapped to their hand is extreme in its own right.
This video provides a little insight into how a photographer sets up and shoots on a big wall climb. The rigging, the preparation, and the equipment, certainly seems more complex and difficult than that of the actual climber! For once I'm glad the camera was turned around, so we have a glimpse into the work that goes into these amazing climbing videos. If you would like to see the result of the photographer's (Simon Carter) work, see the video below.
I myself enjoy photography, and plan to write about some amateur photo DIY projects in the future. However, I can assure you they won't be half as extreme as this. Let us know in the comments if you have any experience shooting good climbing photography. Have you tried using a GoPro or Contour camera? What about photography would you like to learn more about?
-Jonathan
I don't take any credit for either video. Check out nikonaustralia on YouTube for more.
