Base Camp Blog
This is the place to get the inside scoop from Climbing's editors. In these pages, the editors share their unvarnished opinions on the day's news, favorite climbs, recent trips, and the gear that we use when we're out climbing.

  • Learning Heaps: An Aussie Intern at Climbing

    Living in the US takes some getting used to—people talk funny, drive on the wrong side of the road, and the light switches are upside down. But I’m willing to overlook those minor drawbacks because the mountains are stunning, desert camping is a blast, the Flatirons are at my doorstep, and last but not least, interning at Climbing is the chance of a lifetime. After slogging away as an environmental scientist for a number of years, I decided it was time for a change. I returned to university to study writing and editing, and shortly after that set out to intern at a magazine. Unfortunately for me, this search included some pretty limiting criteria: The magazine must be about climbing, and it must be located somewhere fun. Based in Boulder, Colorado, Climbing was the perfect fit. After a couple months of climbing, living, and working in “the Bubble,” I’ve learned a thing or two.

  • Five U.S. Guides Earn Top Honor

    5/8/13 - After passing ski mountaineering exams in the mountains of Alaska, British Columbia, and Colorado, five more American guides have been fully certified by the IFMGA, the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations. The guide training and certification, administered by the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA), is the highest level of professional certification available.

  • Interviewing Fred Beckey at 90 Years Old

    It's not every day you get to meet the man who's got more first ascents than anyone on the planet. For that matter, it's not every day you meet anyone who's lived through WWII, the Cold War, and several others, and who still climbs. But at the 2013 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, I sat down and chatted with [more like yelled to; he's really hard of hearing] the man himself: Fred Beckey.

  • Old Dog, New Tricks

    More than once, I've driven off to go climbing and left my carefully packed lunch in the fridge. But now the solution has been revealed.

  • New Testing of Anchor Hardware

    The Italian website Planet Mountain recently organized a very interesting test of the hardware commonly used for convenience lower-offs at anchors, as well as convenience quickdraws left on routes (perms-draws).

  • Can Climbing Help Residents of Brazil’s Slums?

    BEYONDGear is a new organization, started by American climber Asa Firestone, that aims to raise money to support a climbing school and build a climbing wall in the slums of Rio de Janeiro.

  • 2012 International Climbers Meet Recap

    Imagine being in a stunningly beautiful and ultra-classic climbing area at the most perfect time of year, camping in a secluded campground, climbing four-star routes with 50 of the most rad people you’ll ever meet from across the globe, chilling by a fire every night with a cold PBR in hand, and three ridiculously delicious meals a day served piping hot right in front of you.

  • Inspiring video: John Gill Training At Age 75

    Want to be inspired? Check out this video of John Gill working out in September 2012 at age 75, despite severe shoulder arthritis.

  • Climbing Dissed For Olympics by Sports Pros

    Which new sport would people in the business of sports prefer to see in the 2020 Olympics? Definitely not sport climbing. At least that's the conclusion you'd reach based on an online poll by SportsPro magazine.

  • Can a Hot Belay Device Melt Slings?

    The Black Diamond QC Lab looks at an age-old question: Can a blistering-hot rappel device melt the slings attaching a climber to an anchor?

  • First Blind, Female Ascent of the Grand Teton

    On August 22, Nancy Stevens, 51, became the first blind woman to climb the Grand Teton. Stevens, a Bend, Oregon, local, made the ascent in one day, climbing with three friends and four guides. Stevens needed no physical assistance during the ascent; she belayed her partners and rappeled on her own. The only aid she received on the climb was being given a general direction in which to climb.

  • Do Paul Ryan’s Athletic Claims Matter to Climbers?

    In addition to Eddie Murphy dying, Ryan was one of the most Googled topics in America this week. The Eddie Murphy thing was a hoax—no, he didn’t meet his fate snowboarding in Switzerland (I had no idea). But Paul Ryan’s respective search engine ubiquity came as a result of general election–cycle spray and his alleged truth-stretching about a couple of athletic feats, including climbing.

 
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