Free Clinics for Climbers on Saturdays in the Gunks

Joe Vitti works for Alpine Endeavors, a guide service based in New Paltz.




I hired Joe back in 2007 when I was firstlearning to leadtrad climbs.Joegave metwo days of intensive training in placing gear and building anchors. And we did some fun climbing. I didn't know the cliff at all in those days-- it seems like another lifetime even though it was just five years ago. Joe took me up several great moderates and only as an afterthought did I ask himthe names of theroutes we'd climbed.They were allclassics: Hawk, Snooky's Return, Madame G's, and others. Along the way I learned a ton about how to keep myself safe at the cliffs.




Since then I've seen Joe guiding around the Gunks on several occasions. He is always friendly, always professional. He's an all-around good guy.




Now in response to thetragic accident a few weeks ago Joe has gotten together with some other guides to offer free clinics for climbers on Saturdays, at 5:00 in the Uberfall. (See the flyer I've reproduced above.) At these clinics these guides will be offering (for free!) the kind of priceless information I got by hiring Joe several years ago. I would urge climbers of every level to try to check it out one of these Saturdays. I hope to stop by myself one of the next few Saturdays.




If you would like to attend, email Joe at joe@alpineendeavors.com, or call Rock and Snow at 845-255-1311, or EMS at 845-255-3280.

Upskill Style.

The very stylish Upskill Climbing team landed in Hong Kong earlier this year to streettest their new range of climbing clothing in the tough urban environment.



jjobrienclimbing was there to bring back the look.



LeeCujes momentarily considers this black on yellow knit sweater.

Co-Director Sam Cujes vetoes: No.





















Brown bomber? Again: No.



After a few false starts Lee hits the gritty streets of Hong Kong in Boulders + Nuts T-Shirt from theUpskill Store. Good choice.

Get Lee's look here.

Boulders + Nuts T-Shirt protects and enhances in the dark canyons of Mong Kok

Upskill Director Lee Cujesactions an importantstyle decision in the Hong Kong officeand comes out on top in Slo PonyT-Shirt and G Star Jeans. Did you know the enigmatic Slo used to be a fashion designer?

The Upskill directors meet with principle style editors from jjobrienclimbing at Hong Kong's fabulous "Aqua"

Climbers, if yourtechnique or wardrobe need upskilling look no further.

And if you areseeking stylish traveling companions jjobrienclimbing recommends the Upskill Camp in Kalymnos this October . Travel with complete confidence that your companions won't roll out of the hotel looking shabby on you, every stylish travelers worst nightmare.

This will be the fourth in the highly successful series ofKalymnos climbing training camps for Upskill.



Have you been to Kalymnos with Upskill? Tell us about it.

Cycling Lessons From Miss Brodie

Don't know whether others have seen the classic film, The Prime of Jean Brodie, based on the novel by Muriel Spark. It ends badly, and the main character - a deluded school mistress in 1930s Scottland - is not somebody one would strive to emulate. But I do admire her beautiful cycling skills! In fact, the opening scene of the film - where Miss Brody is shown gracefully cycling to the school where she teaches on a loop-frame bicycle with a basket - has no doubt influenced my own choice of bicycle and my notion of what "riding a bicycle" should be like. So here are some stills from the sequence that inspired me.

Miss Brodie mounts her bicycle with ease using the proper Sheldon Brown method. Her long, narrow skirt does not seem to impede the mounting maneuver one bit.

Notice how straight her leg is on the pedal as she cycles: completely extended. She would definitely not be able to reach the ground with her toe in traffic.

Ah, here she indicates that she is about to stop. Look at all that stuff on her bike! Rolls of paper in the basket, and what looks like a wooden trunk strapped to the rear rack. You can hardly tell due to the bad quality of these images, but it looks like her bicycle has all blackout parts on it. Does anybody know what year they began doing that?

To get off the bicycle, she takes her right foot off the pedal and swings the leg over the frame while the bicycle is still in motion.

Then she coasts for a bit in this standing position - with the left foot on the left pedal and the right foot supposedly in the air next to it? - until she hops off and the bicycle comes to a stop. Impressive! - and no way can I pull that off.

In the film, one of Miss Brodie's catch-phrases was that she was "a woman in her prime" - even though she was distinctly old-maidish by 1930s standards. My theory is that her cycling is what kept her feeling young and beautiful.

Christmas Star

Island Steam

First light over the Susie Islands on a -13 degree morning. During early winter Lake Superior is still carrying a lot of warmth from the summer and fall seasons. As the cold arctic air flows over the waters of the lake in early winter, the cold air clashes with the warmer air radiating from the lake and creates large amounts of steam. When the sun breaks the horizon and illuminates the steam it makes for one of the most awe-inspiring scenes a person can witness on the big lake.

"Primo" time to climb

Summer is in full swing. Warm temps and mostly clear skies have been generous to climbers and the forecast looks promising.

The snowpack is rapidly melting, which allows for quick and easy access to the alpine. Most of the Wonderland Trail, for instance, has melted out (save Panhandle Gap area.) The meadows are in full bloom, yet the upper mountain still has a fair amount of winter snowpack. Time to climb...

We've posted updated Mt Rainier climbing conditions on the Emmons, Tahoma, DC, Ptarmigan Ridge and other routes... If you've some reports, please pass them along.

PARADISE CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

A shuttle system is now assisting visitors along the Paradise Valley Road and those who park remotely at Longmire and Cougar Rock. The shuttle is free of charge and will operate Friday – Sunday and Labor Day through September 10th. See the Access and Roads page for more information.

Cycling and Weight: Realistic Outlooks

It may be controversial, but weight is such a commonly discussed topic among women (albeit usually in private), that it feels disingenuous to pretend that I do not think about it myself. Specifically, I want to say a few words about the relationship between weight and cycling. In many cycling blogs, I find the recurring suggestion that "cycling will make you thin" - whether explicit or implicit. Transportation cycling is presented as not only convenient and fun, but as a natural form of exercise that can improve your physique. Replacing 20 minutes per day of sitting in a car with 40 minutes of pedaling does indeed seem like a great way to get in shape. But if your main goal is weight loss, what is realistic to expect?



Cycling is great exercise, and exercise leads to weight loss - if (and this is a crucial if) all else remains constant. In other words, if you used to drive to work and now you cycle, while maintaining the same diet as before and the same amount of physical activity outside your commute, you will lose weight.

The problem is that all else usually does not remain constant. For one thing, cycling makes us ravenous, and more often than not we end up consuming enough (or even more than enough) extra calories to make up for the fact that we cycled to work instead of driving. So while we do build up muscle which will cause parts of our body too look more shapely, our weight is likely to remain the same unless a conscious effort is made to also control our diet. This does not entirely coincide with the "cycling will make you thin" narrative - which presents the life of cyclists as filled with tasty foods, beer, and weight loss. If you cycle a lot, but also eat a lot, your weight will stay the same. If you cycle a bit, but eat even more, your weight will increase. That is the reality.

Even if you are not looking to lose weight, but are in the "cycle a lot, eat a lot" category, there are caveats to consider. Over the Summer and Fall, I cycled so much that my diet changed drastically just to accommodate the constant energy loss and hunger pains. Things that I hadn't freely indulged in for years - pizza, ice cream, obscene amounts of chocolate, random snack foods - became regular dietary staples. As long as I continued to spend large portions of my day on a bike, I could feel like a pre-teen at a slumber party again when it came to eating, with (seemingly) no ill effect.

But what happens when that amount of daily cycling becomes unsustainable - due to either the arrival of a harsher season, travel, or a change in work schedule? Once you get used to consuming large amounts of food, it can be extremely difficult to cut down, even after your level of physical activity decreases. The reasons for this are partly physiological (stomach size; metabolic processes), but to an even greater extent psychological. We use food not just for sustenance, but for comfort and for social bonding. Having grown used to eating pizza and ice cream late at night with friends, it can feel sad to give that up. Once we grow accustomed to a lavish diet during a period of intense cycling, chances are we will be tempted to maintain it even during those times when we do not spend as much time on a bike. This can lead to an overall weight gain for those who cycle.

I've had several private discussions now with cyclists who feel disappointed because they hoped to lose weight through cycling, only to have gained it. They don't understand what went wrong. Moreover, they feel ashamed because many cycling blogs do project the image of the "healthy and fit" (meaning slender) cyclist and contrast this image to that of the overweight driver who eats burgers and guzzles cola behind the wheel.

Cycling and weightloss only go hand in hand if you control for the other factors, and that is not always simple. For me it has been effortful to prevent out-of-control weight gain this winter, after my time on a bicycle fell to maybe 10% of what it was in earlier seasons. What has been your experience?