In just a couple weeks, the 2009 Reel Rock Film Tour will kick off in Boulder on September 10. There are two main attractions for this fourth installment of the tour. Big UP will present Progression featuring Chris Sharma, Kevin Jorgeson, and Tommy Caldwell.

Sender Films and Nat Geo Adventure Channel will preview First Ascent: The Series, a new TV series set to air in January 2010.

The Reel Rock Filmmaking contest is also back this year. Last years entries were quite good, so don’t forget to vote by August 31.

Here’s a link to the trailer on the Big UP site and the full tour schedule can be found here.

The post Reel Rock Film Tour Info and Trailer first appeared on All Climbing.

The New River Rendezvous is of one of the best climbing events I’ve attended and this year the seventh version of this annual event takes place this weekend from May 14-17. Unfortunately I’ll not be able to attend this year, but apparently the forecast is good and there’s an outstanding lineup of events planned.

The Rendezvous is the annual fund raising gig for the New River Alliance of Climbers. It’s a fun and friendly three-day celebration of climbers, climbing and the New River Gorge. Gather with friends, relax, compete, play, laugh and climb here in the laid back atmosphere of Southern West Virginia–America’s best kept secret!

Tickets are only $25 and it looks like they’re closing registration Wednesday.

The post New River Rendezvous Climber Festival This Weekend first appeared on All Climbing.

During the event, participants climb for donations at participating climbing gyms (Sportrock and Earth Treks), receive instruction from world-class climbing athletes, and can learn basic climbing skills from REI staff at the Intro to Climbing class.

For the $30 registration fee, it looks a good deal as well:

Registration includes punch cards valid at both climbing gyms, good for 11 days of climbing at each gym; plus a wildcard (one bonus day at each gym); goodie bags with giveaways from sponsors (available for participants who register before February 26); admission to Kick-Off event, Climbersâ?? Festival and Wrap party; discounts; raffle prizes and more. Participants also receive discounts on gym classes and memberships. New climbers who want to try out their skills before the event can do so on the climbing walls at REI Fairfax and REI Timonium (call for hours).

The funds raised go to support research at Johns Hopkins University on early detection, better treatment, and prevention of ovarian cancer.

Anyone can participate, so please check out the registration at www.herafoundation.org.

The post first appeared on All Climbing.

I wasnâ??t sure what Iâ??d get out of a weekend of ice climbing just with girls, because Iâ??ve always climbed with boys. Of course Iâ??d come away with sore shoulders, bigger calves and more mad girl-climbing skills, but what else would be on the table at a womenâ??s weekend? After an insanely fun weekend in Ouray at the Chicks With Picks Betty Ice Ball, I compiled a list of five things youâ??ll get more of when you climb with Chicks:

More Potty Talk: A lot can go wrong when you have to pee with a funnel. (I wonâ??t go into it here, but trust me — things can go really wrong.) Consequently, stories about pee funnels abound when you climb with women. After one of the dinners at the Ice Ball, a veteran Chick recounted a pee funnel story from her climb of Denali: The tube of her beloved Freshette landed in the â??toiletâ? at a high camp, sending her into total panic. How would she do the deed in a rope team with men now? A friend sent her to see the only other woman on the mountain, who, though she boasted about only using a hardware-store funnel herself rather than those fancy pee funnels, had a spare Freshette. The woman turned out to be Dawn Glanc, who served as a guide for this yearâ??s Betty Ball (and won the Ouray Ice Fest comp in Januray).

More Nudity: If youâ??re not afraid to bare your ass to the wind and other climbers in the Ice Park (assuming youâ??re not using the aforementioned Freshette), youâ??re probably not afraid to do it back at the Vic in the relative privacy of your room. Maybe my roommate and I were just exhibitionists, but when youâ??re queuing to get in the shower next so you donâ??t stink at dinner, you start peeling off baselayers. If other women came in the room to download the day of climbing while youâ??re toweling off, well, no time for modesty when youâ??re hungry enough to gnaw on your backpack. Thereâ??s nothing titillating about this, no grab-fanny going on here. That happens while weâ??re out climbing, fully dressed.

More Love: When you totally rock some climb, dude — and you will at Chicks, because youâ??ll have some of the best guides around, regardless of gender — expect high fives, fist bumps, puffy belay-jacket hugs and cheers. When a guide throws a contest into the clinic, like making it up in the fewest swings, expect stiff competition from your pals…and those puffy hugs in the end, because your competitors have grace. The love-fest wonâ??t go unnoticed. Nearby climbers seem a little jealous (could just be that youâ??re climbing with Kitty Calhoun), and one commented with a smile that we were having way too much fun, in these sports events, so if you’re a climber and you’re looking for sporting events today you can go here for this.

More Mascara: Iâ??ve never climbed in makeup. Probably because I almost never wear makeup. But for some reason, I spotted a lot of Chicks wearing mascara while ice climbing. I didnâ??t look further into this trend, but Iâ??m assuming itâ??s waterproof. How could it not be waterproof, right? Ice melts after it nicks your face. A few Chicks wore lip gloss, too, and I had to wonder how that doesnâ??t end up on your glove when you wipe your nose with the back of your hand. I donâ??t really get it, but it does look nice — much nicer than the layers of snot accumulating on my gloves. Perhaps I could learn something from the glam climbers.

More Climbing: The Chicks guides keep you moving. You start at 7:45 and climb until 4 p.m. You have 30 minutes to scarf lunch and move to your next clinic. When you get there, be prepared to work. Even when the guides donâ??t seem to be pushing you, they are. Sarah Hueniken, the guide for my mixed clinic, kept sending us further and further up routes by simply saying, â??Do one more move.â? This was the last clinic of the weekend, and I was wasted, but as soon as someone untied, sheâ??d get me to keep going with a mere, â??Youâ??re up, Jenn,â? and a smile. On the last climb, a tall M7, she summoned me to the rope and said, â??Well someone needs to go get the quickdraws.â? Indeed.

Jenn Fields is a writer and editor from Longmont, Colorado. She has written for Bicycling, Mountain Bike, Backpacker, Climbing and the Boulder Daily Camera. Her personal web site is http://www.jennfields.com. You can also follow her on Twitter.

Chicks with Picks just celebrated its tenth anniversary of teaching women of all abilities how to ice climb and improve current skills. More info can be found at http://www.chickswithpicks.net/.

The post More Chicks, A Weekend at the Betty Ice Ball first appeared on All Climbing.

The following day, on Friday, February 13 at 7pm, All Climbing is hosting a meetup / welcoming party with Andrew Hyde (a startup guru in Boulder) for Steph. Andrew is a good friend of Steph’s and helped setup her blog. We share a common interest in mingling the techology and climbing communities.

The location is still to be determined, but we’re currently taking names of those interested in attending. If you’d like to come, please sign up here.

Also, if there are any other organizations out there that would like to help sponsor this event, please contact me.

I know some climbers will be in town for the ABS Nationals at The Spot and if you have some time I hope you can join us for this meetup with Steph.

The post Announcing a Climbing Meetup with Steph Davis first appeared on All Climbing.

I’ve tried forever to find a single comprehensive list of climbing events, but they were scattered across numerous sites. So All Climbing is putting together the most comprehensive list anywhere. Check it out and if you see a missing event let us know.

If you use Google Calendar, iCal or any other calendar application that supports the iCal format you can use this address to subscribe to the climbing events: http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/tmarkiewicz%40allclimbing.com/public/basic.ics.

You can always view the calendar directly on our events page.

If you have any additions to the list, now or in the future, please use our contact form.

The post Climbing Events Calendar first appeared on All Climbing.

Entering its fifth year, the 2008 Adventure Film Festival starts today and ends November 11 in Boulder, Colorado. Focusing on all types of adventure, the festival bills itself as an international venue for independent films.

“I’ve been exposed to an incredible world of adventure through years of expeditions and work in outdoor media,” said founder Jonny Copp, a photographer, writer and filmmaker whose work has appeared in Outside Magazine, National Geographic Adventure, Climbing Magazine and Men’s Journal. “We created this film festival because there is powerful medicine within these stories. … (They) have the power to change us and change the world.”

Here are the festival’s “official selections” and the major award winners this year:

• Peopleâ??s Choice – Living With Grizzlies by Jeff Turner
• Best Cultural Documentary – Recycled Life by Leslie Iwerks and Mike Glad
• Best Action Film – Seasons by The Collective
• Best Climbing Film – The Sharp End by Sender Films
• Activism Through Adventure – Sharkwater by Rob Stewart
• Best Surfing Film – Sliding Liberia by Britton Caillouette & Nicholai Lidow
• Intrepid Travel Award – A Map For Saturday by Brook Silva-Braga
• Best Whitewater Film – Source by Young Gun Productions
• Make Your Own Legends Award – Klunkerz by Billy Savage

Unfortunately, I’m out of town this weekend and will not be able to provide a review. If anyone attends, please leave a comment and let us know how the festival went.

The post Adventure Film Festival Celebrates Five Years first appeared on All Climbing.

Chris Sharma is coming to the New River Gorge on Saturday, October 25th, 2008. He’ll be there for a slide show and the Dead Point Magazine Launch.
From the New River Mountain Guides:

Come down for the weekend and climb and have the opportunity to meet him in person and watch his amazing slideshow.

Chris’s life has allowed him countless experiences during his travels from one edge of the globe to the other and you can experience them with him as he recounts these moments LIVE! Moments such as sending Necessary Evil (14c) at 14 years old, his groundbreaking ascent of the Mandala, solidifying the first ascent of a 5.15 with Realization, the first ascent of Dreamcatcher and the monumental send Pontas Arch!

This is the first slideshow tour Chris has ever given in the dirty South, and it’s exclusively available only to Evolv and Sterling Rope dealers. Chris is going to be showcasing his Sharma Signature Series, his personal line of climbing shoes he developed with Evolv Footwear.

Show starts @ 8:00pm with the Dead Point Magazine party with a hip-hop
performance with Odub and a live DJ after the show.

More info on the Chris Sharma slide show can be found here.

The post Chris Sharma Slide Show at the New River Gorge first appeared on All Climbing.

This year there is also a filmmaking competition, where anyone could submit their best three minute climbing film.

I’ve already bought my tickets and will be attending the premier in Boulder. Check their calendar to see if the tour is coming to your city.

The post Reel Rock Tour kicks off this week first appeared on All Climbing.

The Backcountry Blog has an insightful and partially negative view of the recent Red Rock Rendezvous.

As it turns out, being a pro climber does not necessarily make you a great instructor. It does make you an excellent advertiser though, and it was clearly conveyed what company makes the best equipment.

While the author didn’t appreciate the trad clinic, apparently the rest of the event was a great success.

I’ve been meaning to attend this rendezvous the past few years and have never made it. Did anyone attend this years Red Rock Rendezvous and have similar experiences?

The post Red Rock Rendezvous Review first appeared on All Climbing.