I’ve spent many years curating articles like this — both on the @climbing Twitter account (over 32,000 followers) as well as curating an email newsletter for the Boulder/Denver area called the Startup Digest (which was eventually acquired by Techstars). Here, I spent about three years releasing a popular weekly newsletter highlighting the top events and activities for startups in the region before I handed over the reins to a new volunteer. So I have considerable experience (and enjoyment) building a newsletter and curating content.

So why now after having the initial idea years ago? There are two main reasons. First, my life situation has finally allowed me the opportunity and time to start and continue working on this project in earnest. Second, I feel there’s a large void to be filled concerning climbing news, articles, and overall information.

Many climbing blogs and sites have come and gone, while the total number of climbers has grown significantly. The popularity and growth of email newsletters have also expanded, but there’s not much catering to climbers that are independent of single source media companies like Climbing or Rock and Ice magazines. These newsletters are exclusively a collection of everything they published.

The value of an independent email newsletter (at least in my opinion) is curation without any obligation to a single source.

After only three issues, I’m pleased with the statistics. Both the open rate and click through on the links are way above industry standards (any way you categorize them). So that’s very encouraging, and I’ll be making significant efforts to ensure the content is there to maintain and even improve these stats.

As far as the future, I have no plans other than curating great articles each week. There may or may not be some form of advertising at some point, but for now, the goal is to continue improving the newsletter.

As always, if you have any feedback regarding this project, please leave a comment. And if you’re not already a subscriber, you can sign up here: http://www.climbingdigest.com

The post Introducing the Climbing Digest email newsletter first appeared on All Climbing.

From Black Diamond:

It all started in the gym for BD Athlete Carlo Traversi. Now, 15 years later, he’s come full circle, tracing his roots back to where it began, only this time, as the owner of Sacramento’s new premier bouldering gym. But Carlo’s motivation is not only to provide quality plastic pulling, but also to create what he experienced growing up—a communal place for climbers to train and hang out, but also be mentored and taught the valuable ethics needed for the crag. Check out this film documenting Carlo’s journey from the gym to the crag and back again.

The post Video: Carlo Traversi – Gym. Crag. Repeat. first appeared on All Climbing.

Jimmy Webb: Nine Days at the New River Bounty from Kevin Takashi Smith on Vimeo.

From the New River Alliance of Climbers (NRAC):

In November of 2017, Jimmy Webb traveled to West Virginia to compete in the New River Bounty, a unique bouldering competition organized by the New River Alliance of Climbers (NRAC). Climbers were given a list of bouldering projects that had “bounties” placed on them – cash prizes for first ascents. This video chronicles the nine days that Jimmy spent at the month-long competition.

The post Video: Jimmy Webb, Nine Days at the New River Bounty first appeared on All Climbing.

From Black Diamond:

BD Athlete Will Gadd has been putting Black Diamond gear to the test for over 20 years. He was an early proponent of our revolutionary carbon fiber ice tools—now known as the Cobra—and has been questing to the top of ice formations around the world with prototype ice gear ever since. From climbing Niagara Falls with prototype ice pitons, to going big in Greenland with extra-long special-made ice screws, Gadd is always willing to put it all on the line for the sake of adventure … and invaluable feedback to the designers and engineers here at BD. Recently, his latest hare-brained idea involved multiple innovations—as well as his own Canadian ingenuity—and was captured in this film. Check out Gadd’s latest gear testing exploits as he takes the formidable spray ice of Helmcken Falls … with natural gear.

The post Video: Will Gadd Takes On Helmcken Falls with Natural Gear first appeared on All Climbing.

The post Louder Than Eleven and ClimbingNarc’s Talkshow #1 The Show With No Name first appeared on All Climbing.

(via Colorado MoJo, Prana)

The post Climbing Video: Erik Weihenmayer Climbs The Naked Edge first appeared on All Climbing.

The post Climbing Video: The 9 Rules of Rock Climbing from TED first appeared on All Climbing.

The Players – Alex Puccio sends Trice (v12) from BS Productions on Vimeo.

The post Climbing Video: Alex Puccio on Trice (v12) first appeared on All Climbing.

Honnold in Tuolumne from Tim Kemple on Vimeo.

The post Climbing Video: Alex Honnold in Tuolumne first appeared on All Climbing.

Alex Honnold free solos Half Dome from Hennie vJ on Vimeo.

(via Rock and Ice, ClimbingNarc)

The post Climbing Video: Alex Honnold Solos Half Dome first appeared on All Climbing.