Sport Blog: January 2011

Tuesday 1 February 2011: CONDITIONING

CONDITIONING INTERVALS

Today's workout uses 30/30 intervals (30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest, repeat for time allotted).

Advanced:

5 x 30/30 Jumping Jacks or Jump Rope
5 x 30/30 Burpees
5 x 30/30 Mountain Climbers
5 x 30/30 Squats

Intermediate:

5 x 30/30 Jumping Jacks or Jump Rope
5 x 30/30 Squat Thrusts (add push-up if possible)
5 x 30/30 Mountain Climbers
5 x 30/30 Squats

Basic:

5 x 30/30 Jumping Jacks or Jump Rope
5 x 30/30 Half-Squats or Squat Thrusts
5 x 30/30 Mountain Climbers
5 x 30/30 Half Squats

February's Great Fitness Experiment: Sandbags! [Plus Creatine Experiment results]

This pic amuses me because I found it on a site under the heading of "preschool crafts". It's titled "Build a sand castle with tin cans." Uh-huh, sure. You're going to write your kid's college admissions essay too aren't you?

"Why are you buying play sand in the middle of a blizzard?" The cashier at home depot looked at me suspiciously as if a mom with 4 kids in tow (and by "in tow" I mean "running in circles around the cart throwing paint cards at each other while the 4-year-old tantrumed next to the candy he couldn't have") would have ulterior motives. "You building them an indoor playground or something?" Ah, she thinks I've lost my mind!

"An indoor sandbox? Certainly not." I may be addled but I'm not insane. "Actually the sand is for a workout." She looked confused so I explained, "I have these canvas bags, see, and I fill them with sand to make them heavier. So I can lift them." I made a weak bicep curling motion.

"Why don't you just use dumbbells?"

Good question. Perfect question in fact. Back when we first Experimented with kettlebells we also got that question a lot. "Why are you swinging those things in here? Just use the weights like a normal non-freakish person already!" But we quickly learned that kettlebells are not just balls with handles. They're canon balls with handles. And it's that very swinging action that makes all the difference between a traditional free-weight workout and a kettlebell workout.

I grabbed my screaming toddler, scooping him up in my arms. Of course he did what he does best: he made a scene flailing and trying to toss himself out of my arms onto the hard concrete floor. Over the screaming I yelled, "The key is the sandbags are an unstable weight! So you have to work harder to lift and stabilize them, just like this..." I looked down at my suddenly still child. "What are you doing?" I hissed. He lay perfectly limp in my arms. The cashier peered over the counter curiously. I jiggled him. "Come on!" His eyes remained closed without a hint of flutter, his little mouth slack and drooling. Had he tantrumed himself into a seizure? I set him down on the bag of sand and we all stared at him. Never have I seen a 4-year-old so absolutely still.

"Should I call someone?" The cashier ventured. At which point he exploded.

"Stop wooking at me! Can't you see I'm invisible??" Mystery solved.

Which brings me to the main reason I am so excited to try sandbags for February's Great Fitness Experiment: sure they're an unstable weight that activates all kinds of smaller muscles and your core and makes weight lifting exponentially more difficult and therefore more rewarding. But the best part is the sandbag is an unstable weight that doesn't humiliate me in public. Yet.

Plus I'm a total fitness nerd and love to geek out over the latest fitness tools (word on the street has it that the krankcycle is coming to our Y!!) so when Josh Henkin contacted me about his Ultimate Sandbag Core Fitness System I tried to restrain my enthusiasm so I wouldn't scare him away. Okay, no I didn't. I squeeed. (Like peeing but with happy sound effects.) I'm professional like that. He sent me the whole package:

You fill up the two black pouches with sand and then place them inside the duffle bag with handles, allowing you to customize the weight. (Note to Y staff: if you see me lugging a heavy black duffle bag around, it is not a bomb.) It also comes with a strap, instructional videos and - my fave part - a poster of sandbag moves that even came with a little piece of masking tape stuck on the upper corner. It's like Josh tore his own poster down off his wall to send to me. Which only makes me treasure it more!

So this month the Gym Buddies and I will still be finishing the Fitblogger Competition for Charity with Lindsey of Lean Bodies but we'll be adding in some special sandbag moves and workouts. If you want to get an idea of what a sandbag workout looks like, here's one from Josh that incorporates the sandbag, the TRX and kettlebells (it's like I died and went to fit heaven!). We're going to try to use the sandbag in every way imaginable, including some workouts from Bodyrock.tv - Freddy and Zuzana are big sandbag fans.

Last Month's Results - Competition and Creatine

For those of you on Team GFE, you already know that we've swept every week and challenge so far (woot woot!) but we still have two more to go and every workout counts towards our final score! No slacking now - keep up the awesome work! For us, the most entertaining aspect of January's Fitblogger Challenge Experiment was the competition aspect. Usually we only have each other to compete with - Gym Buddy Allison and I are notorious for trying to one-up the other - but this month we had new people (strangers even!) to compete with. We were giddy like high schoolers on prom night. That is until Reader Taylor beat my mile time. (I'll catch up with you Taylor, just you wait!)

But the real experimental aspect of January was that both Gym Buddy Megan and I decided to try out creatine. Like I explained before, the monohydrate made me bloat like a pregnant woman (and made about as cranky as one too) so we used GNC's Pro Performance AMP Amplified Creatine 189, a form of creatine ethyl esterase. (Seriously GNC could you have picked a longer name? I think you missed a letter of the alphabet.) The results were unimpressive.

The good news: For those of you worried we were going to bulk out like men, that definitely didn't happen. In fact my high hip measurement went down a 1/2 inch and my low hip went down 1/4 inch.

The bad news: I took measurements of all my muscles and got zero hypertrophy. And before you get all righteously indignant with me, we do lift very heavy at least 3 times a week and yes we are both lean enough where a small change would have been noticeable. We weren't necessarily going for big guns but rather to lean out a little more and that didn't happen either. While I wasn't able to get my body fat percentage tested - the trainer wasn't available this morning - judging from the tape measure, my clothing and the way I look, I don't see a difference so I'm guessing there's not any change there either. Nor did Megan.

The weird news: We took the pills as prescribed, 2 a day on weight lifting days, and we both noticed that we got dizzy and light-headed about an hour after taking them. We both also think that perhaps we did recover from our weight workouts a little faster and had less soreness. Maybe.

My verdict? The bottle's going back to GNC. Yay for their generous return policy!

Anyone want in on the sandbag experiment this month? We'll be posting some more videos of the Gym Buddies and I (badly) doing the moves so you can try it out too. Even if you don't have a super high-tech bag like mine you can get started with a homemade one, a large bag of rice or flour or, if you can catch one, a small child.

Anyone else try the creatine? Have you ever been publicly humiliated by a child?

How Blogging Fueled My Exercise Addiction: A Cautionary Tale

Gymnastic

image from we heart it

Wearing a gold 80's leotard. Climbing a piece of silk 100 feet in the air. Punching until my knuckles bled. Eating beans that could have killed me. I've done a lot of stupid things in the name of health. I got into fitness for the dubious reason of dealing with a past sexual assault and the ensuing court case (nothing like actual running to help you run away from your problems!) so I suppose it only makes sense that my journey to health had a few seriously unhealthy pit stops.

Some of them, like my battle with orthorexia (an obsession with eating so healthy that you become unhealthy), I was very public about. I even went on TV (twice!) to talk about it. But there was a stronger force, an emotional rip tide, that was pulling me under right before everyone's eyes and yet I still tried to hide it. I had a dangerous addiction to exercise.

I'll wait while you finish giggling. It's ok, compulsive over-exercise is officially the mental disorder that everyone "wishes" they had. Despite its apparent benignity, it can - and did for me - have serious consequences. I suffered everything from stress fractures to amenorrhea to depression to the final indignity of having to go to eating disorder therapy.

I haven't ever 'fessed up to this in public yet but my addiction was the reason I started my fitness blog. I needed an outlet for all the crazy. I read dozens of articles, books, studies, websites and, of course, blogs weekly and I needed a place to consolidate it all. I never thought anyone would read it. But you did! And it was a rush like no other. I lived for every comment, e-mail sign up, backlink and page view (stat crack!).

Best of all I found people who were just like me! People who were just as interested in the same arcane studies I was! People who also lived for the feeling of pushing yourself until you see stars, your hearing is deafened and there isn't a single inch of you not drenched in sweat! Most of you were not exercise addicts. But I was. And blogging about fitness was like putting a meth addict in a cement garage with cases of Sudafed.

Eventually I had to come out on my blog. The health consequences had gotten too severe and even I couldn't deny anymore that I had a problem. The support I got from all of you was amazing and to this day I get weepy remembering it. But every time someone - I have many an astute reader and friend - questioned me about the sanity of keeping up my fitness blog while undergoing treatment for compulsive over-exercise, I ignored them. My therapist told me I had to give up my blog, especially once I became pregnant - my health and the baby's health were too important to mess around with, she said. I thought about quitting. But then my therapist left private practice for the prison system (is that not the saddest sentence ever?) and rather than find a new doctor, I quit therapy.

Unbridled, I exercised with such intensity that around my 8th month of pregnancy I found myself crying in the gym bathroom. There was blood everywhere. I tried not to panic. Had I felt my baby kick recently? I couldn't remember. Huddled under the stairwell I called my OBGYN and confessed. The Gym Buddies tried to reassure me that it was all going to be ok - and in the end they were right. All the blood was from damage done to my urethra from the weight of my uterus bouncing off of it. Yes, I was peeing blood but that was good news because it meant I hadn't hurt my baby or the placenta or anything else vital. It shook me up bad enough that I took a break from high-intensity exercise until the baby was born. (Healthy, gorgeous, every bit a miracle Jelly Bean is!)

The crazy, unfortunately, did not stop with her birth. Now, I didn't have to worry about hurting her and I worried a lot about losing the weight. There were copious tears, arguments with my husband and lengthy conversations with my sister but I'll cut to the chase: I quit blogging June 28, 2010. It was my 32nd birthday and I finally realized that I wasn't going to be able to work through my mental issues and blog about fitness at the same time.

Clearly that didn't last (or you wouldn't be reading this!) but when I did it, I meant it. I barely touched a computer for a month and instead spent that time teaching myself to "eat intuitively" and by extension to "exercise intuitively." I played with my children without trying to somehow turn it into a workout. I went on dates with my husband where we'd just sit. But after a month I had a realization: as much as I had needed to quit blogging, now I needed to blog again. This time, though, it wasn't out of a desire to fuel an unhealthy obsession. This time it was because I deeply missed all my readers and blog friends who had become true friends. It was because I wanted to share my passion for health and fitness. It was because I love to write almost more than I love to breathe. And partly, it was so I could warn others about falling into the same trap I did.

As bloggers, we're very passionate about what we do - we wouldn't do it otherwise, considering all the work that goes into it - but with that passion comes a danger of being consumed by what we love. Whether it's exercise like me, or cooking, or even blogging about our kids there comes a line where you realize you're blogging about your life more than living it.

I couldn't tell you guys all of this at the time. It was still too close and I'm sorry for that. I left without much of an explanation and I returned without any explanation and I still feel bad about that. Honestly I'm still trying to figure out how to find a healthy balance with blogging and with exercise and you have been nothing but patient and loving with me. Your support, e-mails, comments, and tweets mean so much to me. I cannot thank you enough for this. While I may have started blogging for the wrong reasons, I'm continuing it for all the right ones.

Moral of the story: Don't be me.

Alternate moral: I love you!

How do you balance your online life with your real life? Anyone else ever have to make a big confession on their blog? If you're a blogger, have you ever felt like your blog ran your life rather than the other way around?

Do Boobs Make the Fit Woman? [The Controversy Over Breast Implants in Fitness Models]

Image from Natalie Dee

"Knockers!" "Jugs!" "Fun bags!" "Sweater puppies!" Sitting in the darkened audience at the talent show my friend put on as a fundraiser for breast cancer research, I listened as all my friends called out their favorite euphemisms for boobs. I wanted to contribute - what's more fun than sitting in a big room talking girlie bits with all your best girls? (And no men, we weren't wearing panties and having pillow fights.) - but the pressure mounted as all the good ones were getting taken. Looking down for inspiration, it came to me: "Rocks in socks!" I blurted out. Silence. Then my friend next to me giggled, "Really??" I stood firm in my answer. "Indeed."

Nursing four babies has not been kind to me in the chest department. Sure I look amazing as long as I'm slinging the milk shakes but as soon as my drive-in becomes take-out only, I end up worse than before I began. And I'm not the only one. Plastic surgery is a topic that comes up among the Gym Buddies from time to time - it did this very morning in fact! (See, now don't you wish you came and worked out with us?) While there are a couple Buddies holding out for a tummy tuck and one who wants a reduction, the rest of us, if money grew on trees, would get the girls fixed.

Part of it is because while we can lose the baby weight with nutrition and exercise, we can never fix the saggy bits and we'd just like to have our old selves back. But part of it - the part we don't talk about very much - is based on a fundamental unrealistic yet oddly pervasive belief in the fitness world: that you can be very lean and still have very big boobs.

Image from Muscle and Fitness Hers

Reader Juni, obviously tuned in to the Gym-Buddy wavelength, sent me this question:

"So I buy just about every fitness magazine on the market and I gotta say that it makes me sad that I find it quite rare if I see even ONE model without breast implants. It’s such a strange contradiction, you know???? I mean, I do get it, you have a low body fat percentage and you likely have what I like to call “Boobinis”. Yet, as a women who works out to feel strong and happy with her capable body it makes me sad to see this and conflicted…. "

Juni makes an excellent point (and also "boobinis" is hilarious - I'm totally stealing that one from now on!) In case you missed 8th grade health class, breasts are largely made up of fat. So if you lean way out, reason stands that your chest will disappear just like the fat off your stomach. This is a conundrum for fitness models. Traditionally female "fitness models" had a very specific look, something akin to this:

Body fat low enough to show 6-pack abs yet still enough on top to fill out a sports bra with cleavage! Image from Muscle and Fitness Hers

While it's no secret that in the larger world of movie stars, Maxim and reality TV shows stick thin with grapefruit halves is highly desirable, you'd think that in the health and fitness realm with its emphasis on muscle mass over Barbie limbs that we'd get some slack in the chestal department. Not so. If anything, breast implants seem more prevalent in fitness modelling than typical women's modelling.

While some fitness professionals, like the ever-controversial Zuzana of bodyrock.tv, are unapologetic about their augmented assets, others are starting to buck the trend. Top fitness model Kim Strother (if you have read any health or fitness mag in the last two years I can guarantee you've seen her, even if you don't know her as anything other than "girl demonstrating ab crunches on large exercise ball") talks openly about losing jobs because she refuses to enlarge her athletic chest.

Self magazine's features director/fitness Meagan Murphy calls Strother the "new-school archetype" saying that she is "healthy, strong and aspirational." Murphy adds, "The supermodel won the genetic lottery. The fitness model worked damn hard for that body, and you can tell." She even points out that Strother differs from traditional female models in that most of the sample clothes sent for photo shoots are a size medium to accommodate her athletic build.

Kim Strother, full-time fitness model. Image from Slate.com

Normally "athletic build" is seen as a derogatory term - I remember the first time a gymnastics coach told me I had "athletic thighs" I cried for a week and went on a crash diet - but these days some fitness magazines want a model that can do more than just look pretty in booty shorts. They need someone strong enough to hold a plank in the sand for five minutes while wardrobe and lighting are adjusted, someone who can jump 83 times in the air to get the perfect "spontaneous" shot, someone who can demonstrate proper squatting form. And with online video complements to articles, that is getting harder and harder to fake.

Personally I hope that Strother is the wave of the future, if only for the fact that with as many kids as I have there's no way I'll ever be able to afford implants (and also, did you know you have to replace them every decade or so? A little too high maintenance for this surgery-squeamish girl!). On the other hand, I had two mommy friends get implants just this last week and they're super happy with the results (or at least they will be when the swelling goes down.)

What do you think - is the fake boobs/tiny figure still the gold standard or do you think smaller boobs are the next big thing? Are implants a way to restore you back to you and increase confidence or are they just more evidence of the unrealistic standard women's bodies are judged by? Do you have a favorite term for your boobs?

PS. Check out Slate.com's entire fitness issue for more interesting stuff like this - thanks to the reader who tipped me off to this! I wish I could remember who but I'm totally having a brain fart - leave me a comment so I can give you proper credit!

Conditions Report - January 26 2011

NORTHWEST:

--Looks like a large part of road the has been washed out on the Mountain Loop Highway, and is down to a one-way road. Click here for more info.

--What's up with this warm weather? Saturday brought some nice sunshine to the PNW -- What did you do? One person went to Erie this weekend. Another party did Dragontail but woke up to sunny conditions Sunday. Yet another party's climbing excitement was replaced by skiing excitement as they made a decent of Leuthold Couloir on Mt. Hood.

--Forecasts are in the high 30s and low 40's in the Baker area this week.

--Forecast for the West Slope of the Cascades.

--Forecast for the East Slope of the Cascades.

--Webcam for Leavenworth and the Stuart Range.

--Forecast for Mount Rainier.-- Route and Conditions Report from Mt. Baker Rangers: Mount Baker Climbing Blog.

--Forest Service Road Report for Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

--Mount Saint Helens, Mount Adams conditions and recreation report.

--Webcams for Mount Rainier National Park, North Cascades National Park, Leavenworth.

--An up-to-date ski and snow report for the Northwest may be found here.

--Up-to-date Pacific Northwest ice conditions may be found here.

RED ROCK CANYON:

--What's the road like to Black Velvet? The last comment on the page is note worthy. Click here. The last time that road was graded was in 1999.

--The scenic loop drive now closes at 5pm. See this thread and the BLM site for more information.

--Forecast and average temperatures for Red Rock Canyon.

--Webcam for Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

--The late exit and overnight permit number for Red Rock Canyon is 702-515-5050. If there is any chance that you will be inside the park after closing, be sure to call this number so that you don't get a ticket.

--The entrance to the scenic drive had a parking area for those who wanted to carpool up until approximately April of 2009. That lot has now become employee parking and people who want to carpool are required to park at the lot outside the Scenic Drive exit.

--The scenic drive currently opens its gates at 6 in the morning.

JOSHUA TREE:

--Forecast and average temperatures for Joshua Tree National Park.

--Webcam for Joshua Tree National Park.

-- As winter use in Joshua Tree is growing, camping can be difficult at times. It is not a bad idea to come with a back-up plan if the park campgrounds are full. Here are the NPS Campground Details. Some people like to stay at the rural campground often referred to as "The Pit." And lastly, there is a campground available at Joshua Tree Lake.

--The Joshua Tree entrance fee is currently $15 per vehicle. Your receipt will give you access to the park for seven days after its initial purchase. Rangers check this receipt at each of the major access points going in and out. Annual passes are available for $30.

--Here is a link to a website dedicated to the events surrounding Joshua Tree National Park's 75th anniversary in 2011. Check it out for up-to-date news on the park and the things going on to celebrate this historic park "birthday."

SIERRA:

--For up-to-date avalanche and weather reports in the Eastern Sierra, click here. Avy conditions are still considerable in some areas.

--Webcams for Bishop, June Lake, Mammoth Mountain, Mono Lake, Tioga Pass.

--Permits to hike to the top of Half Dome are now required seven days per week when the cables are up. This is an interim measure to increase safety along the cables while the park develops a long-term plan to manage use on the Half Dome Trail. A maximum of 400 permits will be issued each of these days (300 of these permits are available to day hikers). To read more, click here.

ALASKA RANGE:

--Conditions in the range are not currently available. But we are taking reservations for both Alaska Range Ascents and Denali trips. To learn more, click here. We will begin regular conditions reports in the Alaska Range in late April.

ALPS:

--Chamonix and Mont Blanc Regional Forecasts may be found here.

--Webcams for Chamonix Valley, Zermatt and the Matterhorn.

Vegas

Check out a post I put together for the Mountain Hardwear blog on my trip to Vegas. I also edited a video that you can find there.

http://www.mountainhardwear.com/Blog-Post/BlogPost,default,pg.html?bpid=2011_1_14_MattWilder_RedRocks

Retrievable Fixed Line

Canyoneering tricks are often extremely applicable to rock and alpine climbing. The little trick featured in this video could easily be used by a party setting up a toprope on a sketchy edge or -- as in the video -- by a party rigging a rappel on a weird lip.

This technique is most applicable with a larger group that needs a fixed line. With a small group, the first climber could just belay the second climber down to him after building the anchor.

The crux of this trick is played out in the video very quickly. Watch closely at the 1:50 second mark.

I'm not sure that I'm all that excited about the ratty sling and the quicklink shown in the video. Before committing to anything, it's really important to make sure that your anchor is completely solid.

In review, the steps are as follows:

Belayer belays climber out to edge.
Climber at edge builds an anchor and fixes the line.
The climber at the top converts the line by running it through the quicklink and clipping a carabiner to a clove-hitch on the backside. This could also be done by running the rope around a tree or a boulder. If you do it through a tree or a boulder, be sure that there isn't too much friction and that the line could still be retrieved.
Once the line is fixed on both ends, a climber could clip in with a sling to a carabiner to descend or the climber could put a friction hitch on the rope. A friction hitch would provide a higher level of security.
Only one person should move on the fixed line at once.
The last person will bring down the backside of the fixed line, the end that is not running through the quicklink.
Once the rope is released from the anchor, it will be able to be easily pulled down.

--Jason D. Martin

Mazama Bowl Snow Pit

Well here it is...a snow pit featuring the infamous 'MLK crust'. As of January 19th, the crust has yet to freeze solid, and with the recent and forecasted warm temperatures, its unlikely to do so any time soon.

Stability tests performed on Sunday, Jan. 25:
Alta Vista, Aspect 90o; Slope 30o; evel 5800'.

ETCX
CTH(22) @ 30cm Q3
STM @ 10cm Q3

Also, there were 4 to 5 loose snow slides, (sluffs), off the south face of Panorama Point. These point releases resulted from the intense sun melting and weakening the top layer of snow and occurred on Saturday, Jan 22 around 'high noon'.

Tuesday and Wednesday (1/25 and 1/26) should be mostly sunny and warm, so come on up to Paradise and enjoy some spring skiing in January!

The Ethics of Leaving Fixed Ropes, Caches, and Draws

The ethics of leaving gear in the mountains or at the crag is complex. Some might consider anything left behind anywhere, akin to abandoning gear. Indeed, some National Parks and the Bureau of Land Management identify any gear left behind for any reason at all as abandoned.

So under these draconian policies, if you leave a tent up on a mountain, hike down to your car to do a resupply, and then bring your food back up, a ranger could decide that you've abandoned your tent. And while resupplying is not a common tactic, it definitely happens to some extent in every mountain range in the country.

There are three tactics that climbers regularly employ that require them to leave equipment unattended for -- potentially -- extended periods of time. These include fixed ropes, caches, and fixed draws. And unfortunately, not every climber is educated on the ethics of these issues, so sometimes gear is stolen.

Aid climbers commonly fix lines on big walls. They will climb as high as they can, fix ropes and then rappel to the ground and return to camp. Their ropes will remain fixed in position. The following day, they will climb up the rope with mechanical ascenders to reattain their high point. These lines are regularly unattended at night and sometimes during the day. Obviously, these climbers are trusting that the equipment will not only be there when they return, but also that nobody will have messed with it creating a dangerous situation.

Mountaineers fix lines on steep and exposed snow or ice slopes. These types of ropes tend to be set-up by guides or by large expeditions that need to get a lot of people through a dangerous section quickly. Fixed ropes in a mountaineering setting are almost always left on popular trade routes that require them. However, occasionally a person will leave a fixed line on a less popular route to help facilitate quick movement early in the morning.

A Fixed Hand-Line Employed by Guides to Assist Beginners on Exposed Terrain

Photo by Jason Martin

There are numerous places throughout the country where fixed lines have been left permanently to help facilitate safe movement. Most of the areas where such ropes have been left don't provide many other alternatives. Some of these are employed on sketchy rock sections, but others are used to bypass steep mud

Occasionally, large groups will set short fixed lines at cragging areas to help beginners safely move up and down a sketchy section. Unlike the other examples, these lines are unlikely to ever be left unattended for more than a couple of hours.

Obviously in every example, the loss of a fixed line could result in a dangerous situation. It's pretty unlikely that somebody straight-out abandoned a rope in decent shape that is clearly tied off for a reason...

In many mountaineering and expeditionary settings, a food or gear cache is an important part of a team's strategy. Commonly these cache's are buried in the snow and marked with wands or an avalanche probe. If such a cache were to disappear, it could mean the end of an expedition...it could also be very dangerous for those who were expecting it to be in place.

It is the responsibility of those who employ the use of fixed lines and caches to clean them up when they are done. If they don't, this creates a negative impression about climbers with land managers and the public. If land managers know who abandoned a cache (in a place like Denali National Park), they will impose a fine. Additionally, climbers who permanently leave these types of things behind provide a better argument for the ethically challenged to steal your cache or your fixed line.

A Climber Confronts the Thief Responsible for Stealing Draws Off His Route in Smith Rock State Park
Photo by Ian Caldwell

Many high-end climbers (5.11-5.15 climbers) regularly employ the use of fixed draws on their projects. In other words, they leave draws fixed on hard bolted sport climbs so that they can easily come back in order to continue working on the ascent of their routes. Many sport climbers will come back to the same climb over and over again, sometimes logging weeks or even months, working to successfully complete their climbs.

This technique of "working" a climb used to be looked-down upon, but has become the norm for people trying to climb very difficult routes. The technically hardest rock climbs in the world are now regularly being climbed this way.

The issue with this technique is that it is now common for climbing draws to be almost permanently left on hard climbs. There are two problems with this. First, some land managers don't like the nearly permanent installation of these draws. And second, the fact that these draws have been left behind provides a major temptation to individuals who don't know any better and for thieves.

In the Winter of 2010, three climbers confronted an individual who was systematically stripping draws off of hard climbs at Smith Rock State Park. Instead of physically attacking the individual for stealing draws, the climbers kept level heads and educated the individual about what he was doing and how it affected them. Luckily for the climbing community, these climbers elected to film the confrontation for educational purposes. A video of the incident can be seen below:

Picnic Lunch Wall Draw Thief from Ian Caldwell on Vimeo.

There are many climbers out there who don't like the fact that there are bolts in the rock. And there are many climbers out there who really don't like the fact the bolts have draws permanently affixed to them. But when all is said and done, regardless of your beliefs about this issue, if you know that the draws have been set to assist in a climber's ascent, then taking them is stealing.

There is controversy around each of these three topics. But fixed lines, caches and fixed draws are an important part of many climbers experiences and it is important to respect those who choose to employ such tactics as long as they do it in a way that is in line with a local climbing area's ethics.

--Jason D. Martin

January and February Climbing Events

-- Jan 27 -- Seattle, WA -- Altitude Illness Seminar

-- Jan 27 -- Bellingham, WA -- The Biology and Ecology of Winter Tracking: Wolverine Behavior and Track Identification. For more information about this event, please contact Dave Moskowitz by phone 425-891-4745 or email davem@wildernessawareness.org.

-- Jan 29 -- Truckee, CA -- Lost Trail Lodge Ice Climbing

-- Feb 4 -- Munising, Michigan -- Michigan Ice Fest

-- Feb 5 -- Mammoth, CA -- (Ski Mountaineering) Mammoth Chase

-- Feb 12-13 -- Alpental, WA -- VertFest sponsored by OR

-- Feb 12 -- Seattle, WA -- Northwest Collegiate Climbing Challenge (UW)

-- Feb 18 - 21-- Cody, WY -- 13th Annual "Waterfall Ice" Fest

-- Feb 26 -- Seattle, WA -- AAC Annual Benefit and Awards Dinner

FOR MARCH: Red Rock Rendezvous....Don't forget that there is a lot going on in Las Vegas in mid to late March. Following is a quick breakdown of everything that is happening:

March 12-15 -- Learn to Lead: An Introduction to Traditional Rock Leadership
March 12-14 -- AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Course
March 14-17 -- Basic Rock Camp
March 15-16 -- AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Exam
March 17 -- Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour in Las Vegas
March 18-20 -- Red Rock Rendezvous
March 21-24 -- Basic Rock Camp
March 22-25 -- Learn to Lead: An Introduction to Traditional Rock Leadership

Weekend Warrior - Videos to get you STOKED!!!

Well, this weekend warrior's videos will bring you back to the 80's. Pull your neon track suits, your tights and your high-tops out of the back of the closet and dance along to the following videos...

The next one will be sure to get you moving!

Grab those music tapes, dust them off and ski this weekend to your favorite oldies- but- goodies! I know exactly where my Paula Abdul tape is, now I just have to find it...

-Katy Pfannenstein
Program Coordinator

Book Review: The Sandstone Spine

I have attended the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour a dozen times. And every time there is a spectacular story about a person or a group of people that go on an epic adventure. Commonly those on the trip are participating in an adventure outside my expertise. For example, they decide to kayak from Australia to New Zealand, or they bike across China, or they walk across Australia...

These phenomenal films taught me that not every adventure has to revolve around climbing and/or skiing. Indeed, adventure merely needs to be something that inspires you, no matter the medium.

It was with this in mind that I picked up The Sandstone Spine by David Roberts with photography by Greg Child. Roberts is well-known for his mountain writing. He has authored or co-authored seventeen books on climbing, adventure, and the history of the American Southwest. His articles have appeared in numerous magazines and journals, including National Geographic, National Geographic Adventure, the New York Times and The Atlantic Monthly.

Greg Child is a well-known mountaineer and author. The Australian-born climber has tested his metal in every venue including on 5.13 routes, A5 big walls and on Himalayan peaks like Everest and K2. He is a North Face athlete, an Outside Magazine contributor, and was responsible for the award-winning climbing tome, Postcards from the Ledge. Additionally, Child has repeatedly been an athlete at Red Rock Rendezvous, an event that the American Alpine Institute is heavily involved with.

Roberts and Child joined forces with Vaughn Hadenfeldt, a local wilderness guide, to make the first complete traverse of the 100-mile long Comb Ridge in one continuous push. The Comb is literally a Sandstone Spine that slices out deep into the Arizona desert, starting just east of Kayenta.

The sandstone ridge is comprised of thousands of rock spires, turrets and jagged teeth and is home to hundreds of Anasazi and Navajo ruins. Ancient cliff-dwellings and petroglyphs dominate the route from the start to the finish. As does difficult and dry terrain.

While each of the three men were world-class adventurers at the start of their trip, none of them were spring chickens. At ages 61, 53, and 47, the trio's adventure had a different taste than many of those that are commonly written about in the magazines and journals. Each of them were at that point in their lives that society likes to refer to as "middle-age." And in many ways, their adventure along the Comb took place at three levels. On the top level, it's the story of three friends on a great adventure. On the second level, it's the story of the Anasazi, natives who disappeared hundreds of years ago. And at the third level, it's the story of middle-aged angst among the men.

Roberts is an excellent adventure writer. He does a wonderful job of weaving the different parts of the narrative together. At one moment we are on the Comb with the three men, worrying about water; and in the next we are with Mormon missionaries, trying to find a way through the steep and unforgiving desert landscape. Books like this are the reason that I read adventure narratives. They are striking and engrossing stories.

At the American Alpine Institute we run trips in a handful of desert environments. We do trips at the foot of the Eastern Sierra, just outside Death Valley. We run trips in Joshua Tree National Park. And we run trips in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Sometimes in the heat of climbing a route, we forget that we weren't the first people to discover the area, that people have been traveling beneath our lines and routes for years. Ultimately, Roberts' book gives us both a taste of what we love to do -- go on adventures -- as well as a taste of the history of these beautiful places. There is no better combination...

--Jason D. Martin

National Park Service Invites Public to Fairbanks Open House on Denali/Foraker Mountaineering Fee

The American Alpine Institute just received the following email from Denali National Park:

The National Park Service (NPS) is holding an open house in Fairbanks on Friday, January 28 as part of the public involvement process examining approaches to recover more of the cost of the mountaineering program in Denali National Park and Preserve. The open house is taking place from 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. at the Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitors Center (in the classroom) located at 101 Dunkel Street.

Beginning at 6:00 p.m., Denali staff will give a 30-40 minute presentation on the mountaineering program and fee. Official public testimony will not be taken during the open house, but park staff will be available before and after the presentation to provide additional information and answer questions.

Currently each climber of Mt. McKinley and Mt. Foraker pays a cost recovery mountaineering use fee of $200. Income from this special use fee helps fund some of the cost of the mountaineering program, including preventative search and rescue (PSAR) education, training for rescue personnel, positioning of patrol/rescue personnel (including volunteers) at critical high altitude locations on the mountain, the CMC (human waste) program, and administrative support. Since the cost recovery fee was implemented in
1995, the number of fatalities and major injuries has decreased significantly. This is directly attributable to the increased educational and PSAR efforts made possible through the cost recovery program.

When the special use fee was initially established it covered approximately 30% of the cost of this specialized program. Even though the fee was increased from $150 to $200 in 2005, current fee revenue only covers 17% of the cost. McKinley/Foraker climbers make up less than 1⁄2 of 1 percent of the park’s visitors, and in 2011 Denali will expend approximately $1,200 in direct support of each permitted climber. The average cost per visitor for all other visitors is approximately $37. In recent years, the park has diverted funds from other critical park programs in order to fully fund the mountaineering program.

The NPS is seeking ideas regarding two key questions:

Is the current mountaineering program the most cost effective, efficient and safe program we can devise?

How much of the cost should be recovered from users, and what options are there for how those costs can be distributed?

Comments from the public will be accepted through January 31, 2011. Comments may be submitted via email to: DENA_mountainfeecomments@nps.gov or faxed to (907) 683-9612. They may also be sent to: Superintendent, Denali National Park and Preserve, P.O. Box 9, Denali Park, AK 99755.

Additional information on the mountaineering program and the mountaineering special use fee is available on the park website at www. nps.gov/dena.

Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 1/20/11

Northwest:

--Friends are remembering a Calgary man who died in a weekend avalanche in British Columbia as an avid backcountry skier, accomplished climber and safety-conscious adventurer. Manfred Rockel was killed on Sunday in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park near Nelson while on a backcountry ski vacation with fourteen friends. To read more, click here.

--Lyle Knight and Marc Piche made the first ascent of a new WI 6 in the Okanangan Valley of British Columbia. They have named their new 400-foot line, Mythologic. To read more, click here.

--First it was milk, then eggs and then bread that began to disappear from the shelves of The Siding General Store, the sole grocery store in B.C.'s picturesque mountain community of Field. Then, five days after the avalanche danger shut down the only highway leading into and out of the town of three-hundred people, the liquor was disappearing. Finally on Tuesday afternoon, part of the Trans-Canada Highway reopened after the extended closure. To read more, click here.

Sierra:

--Fifty-million years ago, powerful forces deep underground launched a new wave of mountain building that swept southward from British Columbia through Nevada and California, and on into Mexico. It was the beginning of what would become today's High Sierra. To read more, click here.

--A series of large storms hit the Pacific coast throughout December and into January, causing power outages, road closures and massive snow accumulation in the Sierras. Some Eastern Sierra residents saw as many as three days without power, while flights to and from Mammoth Yosemite Airport were canceled for more than five-days at a time. While good news for “snowed-in” vacationing skiers, record accumulations kept backcountry skiers inbounds as the snow settled. To read more, click here.

Desert Southwest:

--The Bureau of Land Management is accepting comments on its proposal to offer special recreation permits for groups within Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in Cottonwood Valley and along the 13-Mile Scenic Drive. Under the proposal, permits would be required for weddings, running and mountain bike races, charity fundraising events and other large group gatherings. To read more, click here.

Rocky Harvey's Plane after Crashing in Joshua Tree National Park

Photo Courtesy of the Desert Sun

--The morning sky above Joshua Tree National Park was bright blue and dotted with a few clouds as Rocky Harvey eased his van out of the driveway. He headed to Roy Williams Airport for an 8am flight with his instructor, Warner Henry. They would fly to Palm Springs, and Rocky would land his plane at an airport with a tower for the first time on his own. To read more, click here.

Alaska:

--Solo winter Denali Climber Lonnie Dupre is getting there. On the 18th, he was at 14,200-feet and had made a carry to 15,200 feet, which in the regular season is the bottom of the fixed lines. As of this writing his plan was to be at 17,200-feet by the time you read this. To hear his audio reports, check out his website, here.

Mount Foraker from 17,200 feet

Photo by Jason Martin

--Denali National Park has released the 2010 Annual Mountaineering Summaries. To read this document, go to this page and download the PDF.

Notes from All Over:

--The parents of a Boy Scout who died last year during a 20-mile hike in extreme heat are suing the organization whose famed motto, "Be Prepared," sets a standard they believe the hike's leaders failed to meet. Michael Sclawy-Adelman was 17 and close to reaching scouting's highest rank -- Eagle -- when he collapsed and died during the hike in the Florida Everglades in May 2009. To read more, click here.

--More than one-hundred people gathered at a bonfire and candlelight vigil Monday night to mourn and honor 16-year-old Joshua Waldron, who died Saturday from injuries he sustained in a skiing accident at Maine's Sugarloaf Mountain Ski Resort. To read more, click here.

--A nineteen year-old woman was rescued Tuesday after she got lost at the Eldora Mountain Resort. The Boulder County Sheriff's Office said Gree R Garcia, was skiing at Eldora with her boyfriend and her boyfriend's brother. At 3:30pm, the group split up so the men could get in one more run. Garcia said she planned to continue downhill to the parking lot, but inadvertently traveled southward, and went out of the ski area boundaries. To read more, click here.

--Last weekend, an amazing new variation was added to the ephemeral Gorillas in the Mist, a 500-foot thin-ice testpiece at Poke-O-Moonshine in the Adirondacks. Three top Northeastern climbers completed a the line that they called Endangered Species (3 pitches, M6+ NEI5+ R). To read more, click here.

--The New York Times ran an incredible article this week about planes melting out of the glaciers in Bolivia and in the rest of the Andes. Apparently, the glaciers melting from climate change are revealing many secrets, including long lost planes and pilots. To read more, click here.

--Rocktown Climbing Gym in Oklahoma City has made use of their local cold. They have farmed ice on the front of their building. To see photos, click here and here.

--Several bottles of key expedition equipment are making their way back home to Scotland more than one hundred years after being abandoned in Antarctica by Sir Ernest Shackleton. The British explorer's unsuccessful South Pole expedition of 1907 left quite a few bottles of alcohol buried beneath a hut in Antarctica. The stash was discovered last year. To read more, click here.

Manufacturer Recalls and Equipment Issues:

--Backcountry Access (BCA), the North American manufacturer of avalanche safety equipment, has just announced a recall of its latest beacon, the Tracker2. BCA representatives say they have isolated certain issues that could cause a potential malfunction in the T2 units. To read more, click here.

--The United States Consumer Products Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of 3,500 Avalung backpacks due to a suffocation hazard. The backpacks, imported from China by Black Diamond Equipment, include air intake tubing that can crack at cold temperatures. To read more, click here.

--Totem Cams sold prior to December 31st 2010 are being recalled. The color anodizing of the cams gives them a surface hardness that may affect their holding power in certain areas of polished limestone and when the cams still retain their layer of anodizing on the area in contact with the rock. To read more, click here and here.

How to Give Health and Fitness Advice

Probably good advice, actually. (To see the rest of Eminem's Top Ten Pieces of Advice For Kids, see the vid at the bottom of the post.)

"Well what you need to do, see, is get some creatine. Yeah it's gotten a bad rap over the past few years but it's pretty much the only supplement worth your time." I almost dropped my barbell when the personal trainer standing next to me dropped this little psychic gem. Has he been listening to our stretching mat babble? (Note to self: shut up.) But then I realized he wasn't talking to me - he was advising his client, a young woman who judging by her wide-eyed look of fear was new to exercise.

She nodded like a bobblehead, "Oh, yeah, I'll go get some! For sure! Ok!!"

And then the trainer added, "The best kind is creatine monohydrate." Holy bloat from hell batman! Gym Buddy Krista met my alarmed look in the mirror. Sure the trainer's advice was decent at first. I personally wouldn't have told a newbie to go straight for the creatine supp because 1) I think you should focus on learning how to lift properly and getting comfortable with a good program before you even think about supplements and 2) The effect from creatine, while validated by research, is relatively small even for fit people and that combined with the water retention might dishearten this January gym tourist before she even gets the umbrella out of her protein shake.

But what do I know? I'm not a personal trainer. And I'm new to the whole creatine thing. Still, you all remember how creatine monohydrate made me bloat like I was 4-months pregnant again and what kind of girl would let another girl blindly walk into that?? Plus, the ethyl esterase creatine doesn't do that, so it's an easy fix!

"Should I say something to her?" I mouthed to Krista. She shook her head ever so slightly. The trainer and his client moved on and the moment was gone.

A month or so ago, when I wrote a post about how to deal with unsolicited advice in the gym, an interesting discussion evolved in the comments about the best way to give advice in the gym. VaMomof2 asked, "Is there a good way to give advice without offending? When I used to go to a gym, there were several women in my BodyPump class who did the deadlifts so badly that it made me squirm. The instructors would never bother to correct them but I found i could not be part of classes that allowed people to do things that could cause them harm. Is there any right way to offer advice without sounding snooty?"

Let's be honest: we've all been in that position. You hang around a gym long enough and you'll see all kinds of cringe-worthy crimes against fitness being committed. You want to help out but people don't generally like being told what to do, especially not by strangers. What's a smart fit guy/gal to do?

Charlotte's Advice on Giving Unsolicited* Advice

1. Examine your motives. Sure we'd all like to say that we're just doing it to help a brother out but if you really ask yourself why you want to tell someone else something they might not want to hear you may discover a different driving motive. For myself, I'm a terrible know-it-all. I know. But hey, at least I can admit it! I like to call it "educating." Other reasons include showing off ("Give me that bar and I'll show you how to do a real squat!"), chiding to vent your annoyance ("THIS is how you re-rack a weight!") and preventing immediate harm. I have bad news for you guys: the only truly legitimate reason to interrupt someone's workout to give them advice is that last reason. If they're about to really crush their skull doing skull crushers, by all means step in. Nobody likes it when blood makes the weight floor all slippery.

2. Consider your authority. Personal trainers are paid to give health and fitness advice. The rest of us are not. I know you think that your way is the best way and they'd be a fool to do it any other way but the longer I do this gig the more I realize how much I really don't know. When I first started working out I was 100% sure that I knew the magic formula. Until it stopped working. I realized that the human body is a lot more complicated and messy than we give it credit for. I'm not saying that your knowledge isn't valuable and important but I am saying that if you're not in a position of authority then they have no obligation to listen to you. If they're doing something dangerous or really annoying, consider asking a gym employee to step in and say something to them.

3. Consider the timing. Can it wait? If you just want to talk shop, then wait until they're done with their workout. Most things aren't that time sensitive. Are you at a party or other social function? Just don't.

4. Approach from the front. You'd think this one would be a no-brainer but I can't count the number of times someone has tapped me on the shoulder right in the middle of a to-failure military press. Unless you want a dumbbell dropped on your foot, walk up to them in their field of vision and make eye contact.

5. Ask permission. Everyone's time is precious and a lot of people just want to get in the gym, do their workout and get out without a lot of chit-chat. (Clearly those people are not me but you know, to each his own!) Start with something easy like, "Hey do you want to see a little tweak that will make that move twice as effective?" Don't go with, "Look moron, you have scrawny little legs because all you do is chest press and talk loudly on your phone." And if they say "No, thanks" or ignore you then just drop it. Loudly yelling the advice over their earphones only makes you look like a jerk.

6. Ask questions. Part of the Rachel Cosgrove workout had us doing lunges where our knee extended out past our toes - you know, exactly the way every fit instructor will tell you not to - and we got at least one comment every time about how we had bad lunge form. If they had asked first what we were doing then I could have explained that this is the way the move was meant to be done, and if you try it you'll see how it really works your glutes in a way nothing else does. PS. No Gym Buddies' knees were harmed in the making of this experiment.

Reader Hal in the original post had an interesting tip (really her whole comment was gold): "If you really must give advice on form or intensity or something else, you could try doing so in the guise of actually looking to *receive* pointers. "Hey, sorry to bother you. I noticed that you use a much different form on these dead lifts than I do and I was wondering if you could tell me about it? I want to make sure I'm not doing it wrong." Usually you can work in a "Well I was always taught that..." somewhere in the ensuing conversation. It'll give them something to think about, at least."

7. Keep it brief.

8. Be a friend. Nothing makes a gym newbie feel worse than having some person straight out of an Atrophex ad bop in to tell them they're doing everything wrong and then bounce right back out of their lives. If you see someone who clearly needs a lot of help and you want to help them, get to know them first. Invite them to do a workout with you. Lead by example. Be kind. People can tell if you're offering advice because you really care or if you just care about being right.

What's your advice giving strategy? Would you have said something to the creatine girl? Ever had an advice-giving situation go horribly awry?

Click through to see the video - and trust me you want to hear #4!! - if you are reading this through e-mail or a reader.

*These tips only go for approaching a relative stranger with unasked-for advice. If they're a good friend or they ask you for help then by all means effuse with gusto!

Wednesday 19 January 2011: DIPS + CHINS

The tried and true bodybuilder...

DIPS + CHIN-UPS SUPERSETS

Perform sets of Dips and Chin-ups back to back for twenty minutes. Rest between supersets as necessary (e.g. set of dips, set of chins, rest, repeat).

Options for performing dips include parallel bars, positioning the hands on the backs of two chairs, or using the corner of a countertop.

Intermediate and Basic trainees should substitute chair dips, push-ups, or knee push-ups as necessary.

Conditions Report - January 19 2011

NORTHWEST:

--Let me guess. You figured the warm weather was a bust, ditched your plans to go skiing and/or ice climbing.... and watched movies on your couch all weekend instead. Well, these guess didn't -- they went to Leavenworth and caught some decent-looking ice. Check out their trip report here. Who knows what it will look by the end of the week, though. It doesn't look like it's cooling off.

--This is a good post to read if you're doing any kind of backcountry skiing. Considering taking an avy course this winter? Now is the time. Maybe it's colder in Canada? Here is a report from Nelson, BC.

--Follow this thread for any updates on Smith weather.

--Forecast for the West Slope of the Cascades.

--Forecast for the East Slope of the Cascades.

--Webcam for Leavenworth and the Stuart Range.

--Forecast for Mount Rainier.-- Route and Conditions Report from Mt. Baker Rangers: Mount Baker Climbing Blog.

--Forest Service Road Report for Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

--Mount Saint Helens, Mount Adams conditions and recreation report.

--Webcams for Mount Rainier National Park, North Cascades National Park, Leavenworth.

--An up-to-date ski and snow report for the Northwest may be found here.

--Up-to-date Pacific Northwest ice conditions may be found here.

RED ROCK CANYON:

--Click here and here to see the latest route beta for Group Therapy (5.7) and the recent bolting issue.

--The scenic loop drive now closes at 5pm. See this thread and the BLM site for more information.

--Forecast and average temperatures for Red Rock Canyon.

--Webcam for Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

--The late exit and overnight permit number for Red Rock Canyon is 702-515-5050. If there is any chance that you will be inside the park after closing, be sure to call this number so that you don't get a ticket.

--The entrance to the scenic drive had a parking area for those who wanted to carpool up until approximately April of 2009. That lot has now become employee parking and people who want to carpool are required to park at the lot outside the Scenic Drive exit.

--The scenic drive currently opens its gates at 6 in the morning.

JOSHUA TREE:

--Forecast and average temperatures for Joshua Tree National Park.

--Webcam for Joshua Tree National Park.

-- As winter use in Joshua Tree is growing, camping can be difficult at times. It is not a bad idea to come with a back-up plan if the park campgrounds are full. Here are the NPS Campground Details. Some people like to stay at the rural campground often referred to as "The Pit." And lastly, there is a campground available at Joshua Tree Lake.

--The Joshua Tree entrance fee is currently $15 per vehicle. Your receipt will give you access to the park for seven days after its initial purchase. Rangers check this receipt at each of the major access points going in and out. Annual passes are available for $30.

--Here is a link to a website dedicated to the events surrounding Joshua Tree National Park's 75th anniversary in 2011. Check it out for up-to-date news on the park and the things going on to celebrate this historic park "birthday."

SIERRA:

--Check out an interview with Troy Johnson, who put up an FA of Native Son, El Capitan (A4, 5.9).

--For up-to-date avalanche and weather reports in the Eastern Sierra, click here. Avy conditions are still considerable in some areas.

Why YOU should go to Bolivia!

The Bolivia trip I did last year was truly a life changing trip. Its likely I will be going back to Bolivia this year and I wanted to post some photos to show you why Bolivia really is one of the best trips a person who enjoys the outdoors can do.

To start with Bolivia is safe. I travel everywhere with a lot of expensive camera equipment, and Bolivia last year was no exception. The first couple of days I left it all in my room rather than carry it around, because I was worried about having it stolen. On day three I realized that even in Bolivia's biggest city there was a surprisingly small amount of crime. To put it simply, if you use common sense in La Paz you are likely safer than you would be in any major American city. The people are kind warm friendly and honest. No one on our trip had anything stolen or heard of anyone having things stolen. This does not mean we were careless, but I was no more careful here than I would be North America.

Bolivia is cheap. When I say cheap what I mean is once you get there it is really inexpensive to buy things. If you are willing to eat street food then you can get lunch for a lot less than a dollar. A good dinner at a very nice restaurant is likely $10. Hotels are also a good deal and there are plenty of hotels that would meet that standards of North America for cleanliness and comfort.

Bolivia is Beautiful. I don't need to say anything here. Just look at the photos.

Bolivia is fun. The people of Bolivia are some of the happiest people I have met. They add to the enjoyment of what would be a great vacation anyway. La Paz is a big city and the night life is a blast! Great bars, great restaurants and great clubs.

Bolivia has great trekking. Just look at the photos.

Bolivia has great climbing.

So sign up for a Bolivia trip on the AAI website and join me in the country I have fallen in love with.

http://aai.cc/Programs/Location/South-America/

See you there!

--Alasdair Turner, AAI Instructor and Guide

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