Jamie Emerson at B3Bouldering.com is compiling a list of the most difficult bouldering problems in the U.S., and has put up a list he calls "a work in progress," soliciting discussion. Pretty much everything on the list is V14 or above, and it's of course peppered with names of mutants like Graham, Sharma, Daniel Woods, etc. I'll be taking a few months off here to get in shape for a whirlwind tour of all these problems, mostly training by ripping phone books in half and doing one-finger pullups on door frames.
The schtick with Patagonia is folksy, yet has a certain exclusivity. Outdoor gear with a fashion feel. Enviro action with all the hypocrisy. Enough about me. Anyway, Fletcher Chouinard, the son of Yvon has a good life. Not quite the eBomb life of Kristal and humping supermodels on remote tropical islands around the world, but pretty good I guess. The Patagonia juice is strong, so strong it makes employees not fully realize that 1) the company is run by amateurs 2) your work life balance is actually not that great 3) the 'benefits' of working there don't justify your Zimbabwean salary. Anyway, here's a bit more, while not quite the personality of his father, he has the market opportunity since the primary blank provider is now gone. Read more about silver spoons here via Outside online.
Fletcher is a 33–year–old surfboard shaper who, with a staff of seven, produces about 1,000 environmentally friendly boards per year, which sell for between $650 and $1,300 apiece. Though it might be tempting to dismiss him as the beneficiary of offshoot–brand nepotism, he has an important role. Patagonia is in the process of converting half its business to surfing, and Fletcher is the name and face behind the only product in the line that's actually required for riding waves.
Forget Ben Bernanke, the world financial markets need to look for financial salvation from the Gear Junkie, Stephen Regenold. I'm not 100% certain on this, but he's either giving away a few personal bailouts of your toxic mortgage portfolios or he's giving away an adventure travel trip. Kind of amiguous to me when I read it, since you know English is like my 3rd or 4th language and I have the attention span of a 3 year old snorting Captain Crunch. Nevertheless, he asked us to post about it and so we are. Because we back our brother bloggers up, even when they're not really bloggers, more like serious, good, writers, moonlighting as bloggers to make a few extra bucks. So please someone go visit his site and report back exactly what the sweepstakes is for, because my toxic loan portfolios are killing me. If it's for personal bailouts I'm on that like white on rice. I'm also in if he's teaching people how to not end sentences with prepositions. If it's just an adventure travel trip, I'll pass. Every day that I open the paper and look at my stock portfolio is an adventure travel trip that I don't think I'll ever recover from.
You guys know we at GetOutdoors think skis/snowboards with top sheets featuring scantily clad women are idiotic. Not only are they misogynistic, but it's insulting that the manufacturers assume every consumer is some pre-pubescent boy playing whack a mole his bathroom. Oh, btw, did you guys see the latest Lindsay Lohan's pics of her and her superpowers. Wow. Anyway, misogynistic, juvenile. Did I leave anything out? Boone Skis is another boutique ski makers that definitely should be supported, but the top sheets. Com'on guys. You're better than that.
Nothing like a 5 ton granite boulder crashing through your tent cabin in Yosemite to put this whole financial meltdown into perspective. "Sure I just lost my whole retirement fund, but at least I didn't get flattened by that 5 ton boulder. Which is good." Second day of slides in Yosemite. Three people injured. Couple of tent cabins gone, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. They're kind of gross anyway. Staying in Curry Village is going to to seem a bit more exciting after wouldn't you say?
''Nature here is unbelievable, but until you see what can happen, don't
realize the danger that can result,'' McClain said. ''I would return to
Yosemite. But would I stay in Curry Village? I don't know that I would.
I'm pretty shaken up.''
eBomb introduced me to Full Sail Brewing''s Session Lager the other night before our rendezvous in hell. Well my rendezous. He left me hanging as per usual. But that's a whole other story. Reason I'm posting about it is it's damn good beer and it's specifically going after you, the hard charging outdoor demographic:
Oh, and it comes in a stubby, 11-oz bottle like your grandpa used to buy. Which seemed appropriate since he was invented back before Prohibition, too. So after your next session (surf, jam, gab, whatever), crack open a Session and drink to the good old new days
Notice the 11-oz bottle. They're smart enough to know outdoor peeps are a few cents short of a dollar and so they can charge the same for less beer. Genius.
Were it not for the total dearth of SUBs shipped to the GOBlog satellite office in Denver, I would have loved to do this same comparison. Roy Wallack from the LA Timestest-rode four SUBs at Interbike and offers his thoughts, good and bad, on the Yuba Mundo, Surly's Big Dummy, Xtracycle's Free Radical Kit and Kona's AfricaBike (not sure why that one was included instead of Kona's long bike, the Ute). Good stuff for those of you wondering if you can haul groceries for your entire family on pedal power.
You saw it here first. Or maybe second. After premiering at Interbike, Macaframa is coming home for its SF premiere at the Victoria theater tomorrow October 8th at 8 and 10 p.m. It's free, so you have no excuse to miss it. Via Soma Fab.
It's unclear whether this stunt entailed actually flying over and parachuting Everest, or just jumping at an altitude higher and next to Everest and floated over. Who really cares, we say? We'll just file this under dumb ideas, along with climbing Everest in shorts or making the world's highest "cell" phone call. Pay enough money, and you can do anything you want on Everest, the world's highest p.r. platform:
The three adventurers, from the UK, New Zealand and Canada, enjoyed a minute-long freefall after jumping from about 9,000m (29,500ft).
The trip took 15 years to plan and cost each jumper about $24,000 (£13,500). After doing the jump, Briton Holly Budge said it was worth the money.
Have you been wondering when you'd have another opportunity to watch Dave MacLeod climb some ridiculously difficult, and probably very dangerous, rock in a place where the weather sucks? Well, wait no longer. Dave and wife Claire MacLeod have released a trailer for their new movie Echo Wall, about Dave's quest to send the line of the same name on Ben Nevis (which he did on July 28). The movie is available for pre-order on MacLeod's website.
Jamie Emerson at B3Bouldering.com is compiling 
action with all the hypocrisy. Enough about me. Anyway, Fletcher Chouinard, the son of Yvon has a good life. Not quite the eBomb life of Kristal and humping supermodels on remote tropical islands around the world, but pretty good I guess. The Patagonia juice is strong, so strong it makes employees not fully realize that 1) the company is run by amateurs 2) your work life balance is actually not that great 3) the 'benefits' of working there don't justify your Zimbabwean salary. Anyway, here's a bit more, while not quite the personality of his father, he has the market opportunity since the primary blank provider is now gone. Read more about silver spoons here 
Nothing like a 5 ton granite boulder crashing through your tent cabin in Yosemite to put this whole financial meltdown into perspective. "Sure I just lost my whole retirement fund, but at least I didn't get flattened by that 5 ton boulder. Which is good." Second day of slides in Yosemite. Three people injured. Couple of tent cabins gone, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. They're kind of gross anyway. Staying in Curry Village is going to to seem a bit more exciting after wouldn't you say?
