Locking Munter Hitch

July 21, 2016 foxmountain_adminAlpine & Ice Climbing Guiding Rock Climbing


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Tyrollean Makes the Red River Gorge SPI Assessment a Go!

July 21, 2016 foxmountain_adminAMGA Courses Guiding Rock Climbing

The AMGA Single Pitch Instructor assessment that was just taught in the Red River Gorge was a full-conditions course. Karsten had to set a tyrollean over the river because there was so much rain on the first day that there were flash floods!

Find out More about our AMGA SPI instructor programs.

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Where’s That Fox?

July 21, 2016 foxmountain_adminGuiding Rock Climbing The Guides' Climbing Adventures

Congratulations to Michael Morely for correctly identifying this route as "White Trash" (12a) at Smith Rock and winning a BlueWater 9.1 Icon rope.

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New Hampshire Ice Trip Tops My List

July 21, 2016 foxmountain_adminAlpine & Ice Climbing Guiding

The annual Fox Mountain Guides New Hampshire Ice Trip is well underway and in fact coming to a close! As one of my favorite trips, it saddens me to see it come to a end every year! The ice climbing in New Hampshire is world class with short approaches and everything from easy, beginner level ice to hardman mixed climbing.

Our month up here starts off with our Ice Climbing 101 Course and the Mountain Washington Valley Ice Fest. I am always psyched to hang out and watch slideshows from some of the best climbers in NH and the world as well as help put on the clinics for this event. Our 101 guests join us in the fun as we cook every night in the chalet and play games and the occasional joke (or magic trick this year) on each other.

We head out to local crags every day and make sure no one goes home without a forearm pump! For those wanting to stay a little longer or pick up where they left off from the previous year, the Ice 201 Course brings an even bigger "pump." It culimnates with multi-pitch climbing for the all-around ice climbing experience!

Many clients come and book their favorite guide for a few days of climbing wher

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Hallet Peak: Putting the BlueWater 9.1 Icon to the Test

July 21, 2016 foxmountain_adminAlpine & Ice Climbing Gear Reviews

Fellow AMGA Rock Guide Lindsay Fixmer and I recently tested out the BlueWater 9.1 Icon on spectacular Hallet Peak in the Rocky Mountain National Park. As you can see, this rope sets a new standard for performance in the alpine:

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Thinking About the Climbs We Guide

July 21, 2016 foxmountain_adminGuiding Rock Climbing

I love these climbs more than most. I know them like my children’s faces.  I love them on the hottest day.  I love them in accumulating snow.  I love them in the pouring rain.  And, I love when people meet the climbs I love.

Tonight, I can barely remember the first time I kissed my wife.  I remember the story of our first kiss, because I have told it many times.  But I don’t remember what I my own lips felt like back then, much less hers.  In the same manner, I do not remember when I first deciphered the Nose of Looking Glass Rock, or bashed my way to the top of Gumbie’s Rampage, or first dangling off the Tilted World.  Those climbs are so far into my past that the first time is no longer a feeling that I can remember.  They have become fluid, unpretentious, thoughtless motion.  Affectionate, but familiar, like kissing my wife.

That’s why I love when people meet the climbs that I love.  I can look into their faces, flash through the vortex of time, and experience, and hundreds of laps up these climbs, and revive my own past in that vicarious moment.

Sometimes, people do not love the climbs that I love.  My wife, f

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A Quick Jaunt Up The Glass

July 21, 2016 foxmountain_adminGuiding Rock Climbing The Guides' Climbing Adventures

Nineteen years ago I came to North Carolina for the first season at Camp Blue Star as a climbing ‘specialist’ to work for the summer. Nineteen years later I am still proud to be affiliated with Camp Blue Star and serve in a staff hiring and training role for their climbing program. This year, sounding like the start to a cheesy joke the climbing team is an American, a New Zealander and two English guys. Trey is AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Certified and Callum is the UK equivalent (MLTE Single Pitch Award) but Blue Star is still putting him through the AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Course and Assessment. All four will also be taking the two day AMGA Climbing Wall Instructor Course this weekend and eight day Wilderness First Responder certification (as well as five days of climbing training with me later this month). For me this is what sets Blue Star apart from other summer camps, the comprehensive unparalleled staff training for their Outdoor Adventure Program Staff.

Even though we don’t technically start climbing staff training for another week I rounded them up the other night at the dining hall to take them on a quick trip up the ‘N

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REI Presentation: Aconcagua

July 21, 2016 foxmountain_adminAlpine & Ice Climbing The Guides' Climbing Adventures

The tallest mountain outside of Asia, Aconcagua stands at 22,840 feet offering all inspired climbers an exhilarating experience full of physical and mental challenges. From hiking through the Vacas Valley, crossing flowing rivers lush from summer glacial thaw to cramponing snow fields above Camp 2 at 20,000 ft, Aconcagua offers it all!

Join guides Karsten Delap and Lindsay Fixmer as they lead teams trekking through the beauty of an Argentinian summer in the mountains. Follow them on an amazing journey with breathtaking views, overcoming numerous.

March 8th: @ 7pm @ REI Atlanta

REI Atlanta located at 1800 Northeast Expy NE. Atlanta, GA 30329

404-633-6508

March 9th: @ 7pm @ REI Kennesaw

REI Kennesaw located at 740 Barrett Parkway Ste. 450 Kennesaw, GA 30144

770-425-4480

March 10th: @ 7pm @ REI Asheville

REI Asheville located at 31 Schenck Parkway Asheville, NC 28803

828-687-0918

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