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Urban Climber Mag Reviews
Urban Climber Mag welcomes print, photo, and DVD material for our Reviews department, both online and in print. Please contact Andrew.Tower@skrammedia.com for more information.
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 California Road Trip: A Climber's Guide - Northern California
California, as you very well know, is massive. Finding and climbing all of California’s rocks could cost hundreds in guidebooks alone because of the hundreds of areas spanning the coastal state. Planning a road trip there could turn into a logistical nightmare pretty quickly. Luckily for you, Tom Slater and Chris Summit have authored California Road Trip: A Climber's Guide - Northern California ($39.99, tomslaterphotography@yahoo.com).  Sport Climbing: From Top Rope to Redpoint
Six years ago, I would have told you that the idea of writing an instructional book about sport climbing was a ludicrous idea. Sport climbing is pretty self-explanatory, right? The most complicated thing to learn was threading an anchor, and it seemed any Luddite with 10 spare minutes should be able to figure that out. This was when I carried hexes up single pitch routes.  Eldo Opus
Masterpieces arrive fully realized, the creator’s toil invisible in the final product. Eldorado Canyon, Colorado, now has its masterpiece with Steve Levin’s intuitive, exhaustive, 450-page Eldorado Canyon: A Climbing Guide ($39.95, sharpendbooks.com). (See Players, of Climbing No. 281 - December 2009, p.26, for more on Levin.) This first-ever photo-topo guide comes stacked with action photos.  Kootenay Craggin'
The West Kootenay region in south-central British Columbia is one of North America’s most beautiful mountain areas, and there’s now a rock-climbing guidebook that does justice to its splendor. Written by local climbers Vince Hempsall and Aaron Kristiansen, West Kootenay Rock Guide describes 22 areas and more than 400 routes — from Nelson, to Slocan City, to Castlegar — and includes day-trip alpine climbs in the Valhalla Mountain Range.  THE RISE OF THE EBOOK
Tuolumne Bouldering, by Chris Summit - This 72-page, full-color guide to the knobby, slabby, and super-historic high-altitude (read: summer) California bouldering spot selects the 20 finest zones and offers up the dirt (topos, photos, and basic info) on the best problems from each zone (275 in all). Adventure & Travel Photography, by Aaron Black - Taking pictures of your friends climbing is easy. Taking pictures of your friends climbing that don’t suck? Now that’s hard. If you want to emulate the pros, check out Adventure Photography and Travel, an eBook that combines vivid photos and concise instructions ...  The Players - Reviewed
“A player in the rock-climbing world is someone who’s there every single day,” says Dave Graham early in Brian Solano’s new DVD, The Players ($29.99, theplayersmovie.com). “And they’re obsessed with climbing on an infi nite level.” To be atop the rock game, like the film’s cast — Graham, Emily Harrington, Joe Kinder, Chris Lindner, Ethan Pringle, Alex Puccio, Lisa Rands, Chris Sharma, and Daniel Woods — you must put climbing before all other masters.  Jerry Moffatt's Revelations Wins Grand Prize at Banff Mountain Book Festival
Revelations, the autobiography of British rock climber Jerry Moffatt, has won the Grand Prize at the 2009 Banff Mountain Book Festival – one of the biggest prizes in publishing in the outdoor, adventure and environment genres, and arguably the most prestigious prize in mountain literature.  EXCLUSIVE: PROGRESSION PREVIEW
I often have superhero dreams, where I can fly, jump to the top of a building, and basically climb whatever I want. In those dreams, my fingers never tire and my body feels light and hollow. The climbers in Big Up Productions' Progression are living my dreams. The first thing you need to know about this movie is that it’s no bullshit — fancy scene transitions and text effects from past Big UP flicks like Pilgrimages, or The Dosage series are gone, leaving only stark images of gifted humans pushing themselves like mad demons to the edge of the possible.  Girl on the Rocks
Since the 1990s, pro climber Katie Brown has blazed the trail for hard sport climbing and aspiring women climbers. Now she relays that inspiration to the written page with her Girl on the Rocks ($19.95, globepequot.com). Big on color and with an easy-to-read, conversational voice, this ‘climbing 101’ for women fills an important niche for those dipping their toes into the sport.  Who's Who in British Climbing
In the comprehensive, humorous, and highly irreverent Who’s Who in British Climbing (£24.00, theclimbingcompany.net), author Colin Wells catalogues the “romantics, eccentrics, and buffoons who have made British climbing what it is.” Packed with mini-bios on nearly 700 bigwigs, the book pulls no punches, painting ribald—and sometimes flippant—caricatures of each personality’s quirks and foibles.  Call It Good
How does a climber change in the course of a year? That’s the premise behind the film Call It What You Want (£19.99, steepmedia.com), which follows a “year in the life” of the fresh-faced but ballsy George Ullrich as he throws himself against mean climbs in the UK, California, and Spain. At one point, we see the tousle-haired Ullrich skyhooking and cable-saging his way up the Bachar-Yerian (5.11c R) on the Medlicott Dome, Tuolumne Meadows—while skipping all the bolts except the last one (as well as bolts for belay): “I did it for fun,” Ullrich explains.  Flatiron'ed
Much-needed and much-welcomed is Jason Haas’ new Climbing Boulder’s Flatirons ($32, sharpendbooks.com), a 220-page, comprehensive, full color, photo-topo guidebook that pulls together all the roped climbs. A bona fide Flatirons disciple, Haas spent three years on the book, climbing almost every route on its pages — no small feat when you consider that more than a few of these climbs are obscure, dangerous mystery routes up poison-ivy-choked gullies and on formations most Boulder climbers barely know by name (Schmoe’s Nose, Nixon’s Nose, or Hillbilly Rock, anyone?).  Love, A Vue
No climbers were (permanently) injured during the making of this film. Such should be the disclaimer for Alastair Lee's new UK-based frightfest Onsight (£19.99, posingproductions.com), a straightforward look at the eponymous niche in our sport.  Table of Colors
North Table Mountain (NTM) holds a unique role in the climbing world: it’s a steep, sunny basalt sport climbing zone that’s urban (the cliffline overlooks the Coors Brewery in Golden, with views to not-so-distant downtown Denver) yet pristine (Golden itself stops a good half-mile from the cliffline, and the mesa land has been preserved).  To the Limit
By Mike Adamson - Thirty-one pitches and 2,900 vertical feet climbed in just 2:45:45—watch as the über-strong Huber brothers (Alexander and Thomas) push themselves To the Limit ($29.95, firstrunfeatures.com) to set what in 2007 was then the speed record for the Nose of El Capitan. |
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 With Bare Hands: The Story of the Human Spider
Alain Robert, the world famous free soloist has just released his autobiography, With Bare Hands: the story of the Human Spider (published by Maverick House Publishers). The French "Spiderman's", biography will have you clutching each page, holding on and hardly able to breathe, as he tells tales of clinging to giant buildings. Order it from Amazon.com HERE.  Dosage V Review
If you haven't picked up the new Dosage V DVD, or gone to one of the premier events, you're really missing out. Not only do you get to see Beth Rodden make the first ascent of Meltdown (5.14c), you get to watch Chris Sharma get shut down on his new ridiculous 5.15/9b project.  Behind the scenes of Andy Parkin - "A Life in Adaptation"
“A Life in Adaptation” - looks at the life of the Sheffield lad who found himself naturally drawn to the nearby moorland crags. There he encountered his first ‘real’ rock climbers. Inspired, he dedicated all of his attention to climbing, funding what became a nomadic existence through a variety of climbing-related jobs, anything that would get him to the crags. WATCH THE TRAILER  Way of the Warrior
By Chris Weidner - I wish I could do one-armed pull-ups like the 16-year-olds at the gym. Then maybe – just maybe – I could send my damn project. On the other hand, physical strength is just one aspect of rock climbing. Mental strength is also crucial. Unfortunately, most of us have only a vague understanding of what this means. Arno Ilgner’s audiobook, The Rock Warrior’s Way: Mental Training for Climbers ($29.95, warriorsway.com), helps remedy that.  Underdeveloped
By Matt Samet - Allah be praised for the streamlined, simple climbing film — it's a welcome relief. Showcasing the principal Irish cragging areas of the Mourne Mountains, the seacliffs of the Burren and Fairhead, and the boulders of Glendalough, the spirited Underdeveloped (£17.99, underdevelopedireland.com ) is, in the words of the filmmakers, "...simply a story of a bunch of friends from Belfast who went climbing. ..."  Where the Wild Things Climb
By Kristin Bjornsen - If you want back-bumper belaying, noisy crowds, and dirt-free routes, the Adirondacks are not for you. This upper-New York State park makes you work for its treasure of slabs, splitters, and blocs, with half the climbing lying wild and isolated more than a half-hour from the road.  Clear Creek Canyon Rock Climbs
By Kristin Bjornsen - Just 20 minutes from Denver, Clear Creek Canyon serves up more than 400 routes, several of them testpieces authored by the likes of Peter Beal, Tommy Caldwell, Kurt Smith, and Daniel Woods. The stylish Clear Creek Canyon Rock Climbs ($28, sharpendbooks.com ) gives you the inside scoop on all of them.  The Ultimate Euro Tour Guide
By Kristin Bjornsen - Welcome to the Euro tour, with stops at Malta, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. Your guide will be the South Western Europe & Morocco Rock Climbing Atlas ($38.95, rockclimbingatlas.com )  Spray Review
Review by Justin Roth - The chillaxed vibes of Northern California's beaches and inland crags set the tone for Brian Solano's new film, Spray ($29.95; spraymovie.com). The movie opens with shots of beach bouldering and surfing in Humboldt County, an area that serves as a sort of base for the climbers (the film is broken up into geographic segments, and the climbers continually return to the mellow, sandy area).  Yoga for Climbers
Review by Matt Samet - I'm a fair-to-middling yoga bumbler, but have been to enough classes to do a passable Downward Dog and have come to appreciate this ancient practice as a low-impact healing and wellness tool nonpareil.  Rock Jocks, Wall Rats and Hang Dogs
Book review by Tim Pendleton - Have you ever wanted to sleep hanging hundreds of feet above the ground off of a sky hook? If this sounds like your bag you might want to pick up Rock Jocks, Wall Rats and Hang Dogs (1994) by John Long. If you don't know who John Long is you might want to find out.  California Dreamin'
My limited time bouldering in California involved sweat-soaked approaches through unwieldy manzanita only to reach holdless slabs or too-sunny, splitter-cracked highballs. I would've preferred that rabid dogs eat my pancreas, truthfully, than motivate.  Sherman Exposed: Slightly Censored Climbing Stories
I can almost guarantee if you sit down to read the first two pages while drinking a beer (which is probably in good style), beer will come streaming out your nose. I know it did mine, that bartender was pissed. And two things will happen: you will learn who The Vermin is and why you should listen to what he has to say. |
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