by Mark Anderson Above all else, Front Range climbing is known for its variety. These mountains and foothills offer a little bit of everything, and climbers of all tastes can generally find something that suits them. However, one style has always been a bit lacking—long, steeply overhanging, enduro jug-hauling. With few exceptions, desperate Front Rangers…
by Mark Anderson I’m a big fan of puzzles. Crossword puzzles, brainteasers, jigsaw puzzles. Without a doubt, my favorite part of project climbing is solving the sequence puzzle. The more baffling the sequence, the more rewarding it is to solve. This challenge is magnified on first ascents, which typically lack obvious clues like chalk and…
A few days after my first free ascent of Double Stout I went out with Mike and Janelle to shoot some video. Here is what we came back with. Thanks again to Darren Mabe for envisioning and equipping the line. Thanks to Janelle for patiently belaying and to Mike for filming. Enjoy! UPDATE: Deadpoint Magazine wrote…
by Mark Anderson Roof climbing is my nemesis. As someone who “grew up” climbing at Smith Rock, I always gravitated towards clean, monolithic faces that sweep skyward in one continuous plane of consistent steepness. My best angle is probably plumb vertical, and the steeper it gets after that, the more I struggle. The climbing on…
by Mark Anderson As soon as Kate and I committed to a trip to Germany, I started looking for information on “The Campus Center”, the birthplace (and namesake) of the Campus Board. Legend has it that Wolfgang Gullich was looking for a new way to train explosive power for a new cutting-edge route he was…
Editor’s Note: This is Part V in a way-too-many-part series on Mark’s trip to Germany. If you missed Parts I thru IV you can check them out here: Part I: Hitting the Wall Part II: Getting Blasted Part III: Chasing Waterfalls Part IV: Blitzing the Classics We were nearing the end of our trip, and…
The holidays are upon us, and you don’t want to end up with a pile of socks and ties again. Chances are somebody is nagging you for a wish list, but you’re too focused on training to put one together. Fear not Rock Prodigies, we have assembled the perfect list of stocking stuffers to help…
Editor’s Note: This is Part IV in a way-too-many-part series on Mark’s trip to Germany. If you missed Parts I thru III you can check them out here: Part I: Hitting the Wall Part II: Getting Blasted Part III: Chasing Waterfalls Over the next five days we climbed at nine different Frankenjura crags, split by…
Editor’s Note: This is Part III in way-too-many-part series on Mark’s trip to Germany. If you missed Parts I or II you can check them out here: Part I: Hitting the Wall Part II: Getting Blasted After a stellar day of climbing at Rabenfels, we crammed our gear into the station wagon and commenced the…
Editor’s Note: This is Part II in way-too-many-part series on Mark’s trip to Germany. If you missed Part I you can check it out here. The next day was our first sight-seeing day, which we spent visiting a trio of so-called “Medieval Villages”. Nördlingen, Dinkelsbühl, and Rothenberg have been fastidiously preserved to maintain the look…
The Rock Climber's Training Manual 