Quebec Ice Climbing Competition

by Neil Woodburn on

Ice climbing is a relatively new sport, but that doesn’t detract from its exciting appeal. Imagine working your way up a frozen waterfall with just crampons, an ice pick, and a prayer that the frozen sliver you’re clinging to doesn’t suddenly turn into 10,000 ice cubes.

Interested? If this perks your competitive, adventurous spirit, head on up to Quebec this February (16-18th) to check out the annual Festiglace du Quebec. The “largest ice climbing event in North America” features an international pool of ice monkeys all clamoring to get to the top better and faster than anyone else.

In addition to the international competition, Festiglace will also feature a number of seminars such as “The Mountain Sleepwalkers: A summer without sleep in Alaska and Pakistan” by Louis-Philippe Ménard and Maxime Turgeon. There will also be clinics for beginners who would like to try their hand at scaling the ice.

Sounds pretty cool to me, but I’m going to wait to see if it shows up on ESPN.

Lonely Planet’s New New York Guide

by Erik Olsen on

It’s one thing to buy a new travel guide when you head to a far off destination like, say, Vanuatu. You NEED that guide to help you find your way around. The guide book is generally an indispensable component of your travel experience. I mean, how would you know where to eat, where to stay, what to see without a decent guidebook? Not to mention, of course, how the guidebook has become something of a beacon for travelers to identify each other, strike up conversations and find partners on the road. Happens all the time. Has happened to me.

But then, what about the question of having a guidebook for your own city? Does it do any good to heft one of those weighty tomes around in the place you call home? Well, I suppose it depends on where you live, but for me, having lived in an intense, bustling, complex city now for over seven years, the answer is, absolutely.

And I can’t tell you how pleased I was to get my hands on the newest edition of the Lonely Planet New York City guide. Released just a few months ago, the book is a major upgrade to the previous edition, with gobs of new information on sites and restaurants and hotels. The new edition was much needed and much anticipated by New York transplants and born-n-breds alike who enjoy having the LP guides (among numerous others) on the shelf when a quiet Sunday rolls around and you’re in need of some direction on what to do. I was very pleased to see the new guide nails all my favorite spots, like the Spotted Pig and Sapphire and the Abingdon Guest House (yes, I’m partial to the Village), but also takes on the thriving out door scene in the city with hefty mentions of biking (i.e. along the River and to the Hudson Bridge) as well as kayaking (I always recommend you come and paddle in Manhattan and check out the Manhattan Kayak Company. You will never regret this…unless you are crushed by a cruise ship, of course, then you might regret it…but htat almost never happens ;-)).

Another great feature of the new guide is the lovely and detailed pull-out map. If I have one gripe with travel guides it’s that the maps inside are usually lousy, and LP too a much-needed step by including great maps. If you’ve never been to Manhattan or don’t come often, you NEED a good map.

I could go on, but suffice to say that the new edition of Lonely Planet’s New York City guide is a must have for both visitors and locals.

Patagonia’s Fauna

by Erik Olsen on

It is probably my favorite place on earth even though I’ve only been there twice. Patagonia is like Yosemite and Yellowstone and a bit of Europe and a handful of South America all thrown into one. You can hike for days in some of the most pristine and lovely country on the planet, or you can hang in a German-speaking village where people fish with techniques that have been passed down for centuries.

And then there is the wildlife. Guanacos (some of which spit at you), the bizarre Nandu, an ostrich-like bird that once stalked a buddy of mind and I as we walked the Torres del Paine trail, and, of course, the Penguin. It is this last animal that concerns us here, for this wonderful NPR story about a scientist who studies Patagonian penguins really brought back to me what a lovely and fascinating place Patagonia is. I recommend you put this one on your ipod and listen on the way in to work tomorrow. Close your eyes and you’ll be transported some place far from home…unless you live in Patagonia, that is.

Wend Magazine

by Erik Olsen on

Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of outdoors/travel/adventure mags comes and go. At one point, when I was living in Seattle, two different friends tried to start outdoors magazines…and each failed. That said, it’s great to see new magazines try their hand at the genre, because there are a million great stories waiting to be told and a select few glossies (while strong) have long dominated the outdoor mag landscape. The fact is, when these new magazines are good, it behooves us to support them, because good writing/photography/adventure is hard to find.

And so let me now introduce you to a killer new magazine out of Portland, Oregon called Wend. I am reminded a bit of that salsa commercial when the true salsacionoados (inevitably dressed as cowboys) hear that the salsa they are about to be served comes from (add dripping disdain here) New York CITY?!. No, as we all know, the best salsa comes from the Southwest. Similarly, one can surmise that some of the best outdoors writing/shooting should come from the West, or the Northwest, in this case.

Wend is a wonderful new magazine that is now into its second issue. While the Web site is a bit sparse at the moment, the issue I have is filled with great stories and sumptuous photographs. A few of the stories available include Powder Lines in Pakistan, about two men who survive the first descent on skis on Pakistan’s Mt. Laila. And a story on Surfing Africa’s Zambezi River. Great stuff, I’m sure you’ll agree. We’ll be checking back with them in the future, so keep an eye out.

Everest Trash as Art

by Erik Olsen on

A buddy of mine who has climbed Everest a few times started a program years ago to bring trash down from the top of Everest. The South Col and other camps at the top of the highest mountain in the world had become virtual trash heaps, places where climbers for decades had left behind the solid detritus of their expeditions. My buddy said that at one point, when you reached the South Col, there were so many discarded oxygen bottles that you had to step around them to get where you were going…namely, the top. And so the program he helped form used Sherpas and funding by climbers to start hauling that stuff down. Little did they know that the trash they carried might someday be considered works of art.

Enter Jeff Clapp, who says he became drawn by the trash climbers leave behind. Clapp says he was inspired by a documentary about Everest’s trash heap (a documentary in which my friend starred), and so he traveled to Nepal and brought a load of discarded oxygen bottles back to turn them into art. He turns them into bowls and bells, after buffing them down to a shiny silver sheen. Prices range from $1,600 to $3,000 for bells, and $500 to $1,500 for the bowls. Come on, isn’t this great? You have to admire guys like this that see opportunity where others see garbage.