Climbers were showcased on the VHI reality show - The Shot - where photographers vie for the title. One challenge involves rock climbing at Malibu Creek. They were trying to take the best picture that captures the word “intensity.”

Not a lot of great shots, but it was funny watching the photographers struggle with being lowered. I wasn’t watching the show closely, so when they said they had to rappel , I expected them to rappel themselves down. But someone else lowered them. The climbers were top-roping some routes many times.

See the rock climbing clips

Tags: climbing, malibu, vh1, theshot

Sorry for the lack of posts! Here’s a cool photo from a store display in Turkey showing bears climbing.

Tags: bears, climbing

G4’s hosting the American Ninja challenge. The following climber from Michigan, Colin Bell, is a finalist. Look at his entry, he certainly has some good climbing skills. 3-finger pull-up!

See the climber / ninja.
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Tags: climbing, ninja, g4

Watch this amazing Ted talk about photosynth. The software can pull information from around the web and create multidimensional images that you can view from nearly any point. Really cool. As a part of the demo, he showed some pictures of climbing at Grassi Lakes, and it’s easy to show multiple images of the climber moving up the same spot. I need to get a new computer, because I can’t run photosynth.

Tags: climbing, photos, photosynth

I was watching New Police Story starring Jackie chan and saw some interesting rappelling techniques with a hand-cuff or pipe. These techniques only work in movies with an invisible cord, so don’t use them! With the really thin cord, it looked like you would basically fly down the side of the building.

Here’s the building.

And the handcuff.

Don’t forget the twist.

Here’s the start of the rappel. His arm would be in a different direction if there was no hidden wire.

No handcuffs? Use a pipe.

It’s a little bit more uncomfortable.

Tags: rappelling, movie, special effect, police story, handcuff, pipe,

I haven’t heard of too many mellow climbing gyms. But apparently they’re not intense enough, because this guy will tell you how to make your gym more hardcore. Watch the video of a guy climbing in tennis shoes and realize there’s a lot more working out that can happen in the gym.

Tags: climbing, gym, hardcore

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while, but you must see this set of photos by hrtmnstrfr on flickr.

Ghetto Climbing in Memphis

There’s another photo that shows a train passing by. Not sure where exactly this is though!

Tags: climbing, bridge, manmade

Michael Reardon’s website has some gallery images and clips of him free soloing. This one gives you a pretty good idea of what free soloing at Joshua Tree is like.

Tags: free solo, joshua tree, michael reardon, rock climbing

Dave MacLeod climbs the 130 ft E11 rated (possibly 8c+) route called Rhapsody, The 10-minute climb that took two years”. The Telegraph article details a bit about his training, while you can
read the Planet Fear article about the same feat to see great photos, including broken gear: Rhapsody - E11 7a. The climb includes a final stretch of 35 ft that’s unprotectable. You can watch some of the falls in the trailer for E11 and hear a few screams too.`

Tags: climbing, hardest route, Rhapsody

Sorry, not much in the news that’s interesting lately, but here’s a new video on YouTube of Dean Potter free-soloing a 40-foot overhanging crack in Yosemite called Heaven (5.12d/13a). It’s a pretty mellow video, but wait until he finishes. So look:

Tags: dean potter, climbing, yosemite, free solo, crack