Grit Ground Up

Three classic routes from my Peak Distritc's tour on march 2012: Braille Trail, Kaluza Klein and Master's Edge. All graded E7 6c and all climbed ground-up after watching friends trying the moves. I had a fall on the first two: quite safe on Braille Trail (slipped trying to reach the arete) and a bit more scary on Kaluza, but it's part of the fun of ground up climbing. Then I had the pleasure to flash Master's Edge on my last day on grit.

Scottish Icetrip

If there is one place on earth where climbers celebrate the arrival of the next snowstorm, it has to be Scotland. Each winter, pounded by the North Atlantic winds, the Scottish Highlands are covered by a layer of snow and frost at the mercy of weather conditions. Here, winter climbing has existed for more than a century, and the smell of adventure is as authentic as the whisky borne of the local peat. Climbing is done from the ground up, without bolts, and generally onsight. An introduction to the very modern ethics of Scottish mixed climbing. It's in those condition that Ueli Steck flashed "the secret" (X, 10), the hardest climb in Ben Nevis.

Arc teryx - MOVE

"We all try to be busy instead of being alive, busy instead of getting out and breathing, busy sending useless texts instead of walking in the woods with our kids or introducing them to life's joys. We move information instead of simply moving," says Arc'teryx athlete Will Gadd in this ode to action and movement. Acknowledging how hard it is to carve out time for exercise in our daily lives, Gadd's passionate words remind us how important it is to get outside, breathe hard, and create meaning through movement. After all, as Gadd says, "Life's more fun when you move."