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 Kalymnos, a Greek Treasure Island
Photos by Elodie Saracco - I went to Kalymnos five years ago for the first time and keep going back. This place amazes me by its fantastic panorama, its tasty food, and the many beautiful routes, whatever the grades you’re looking for! The potential is enormous and new lines are steadily bolted. You won’t be idle! Rock climbing there is different: you experience 3D climbing on stalactites and tufas, a stunning sea-view all around. Kalymnos is definitely a climber’s paradise. It’s one of the places you never forget, a powerful magnet that brings you back, again and again, thanks to a climbing community that makes you feel that you’re part of something and the hospitality of the locals that helps you feel at home.  Winter Bouldering in Bishop
Photos by Peter Franzen - Everyone knows Bishop by now — The Buttermilks, the volcanic tablelands, the late-night campfires at the Pit, a bag of pastries from Schat's Bakery on the way through town. I had the good fortune to make the 14-hour drive from Oregon twice this winter, each time with a small group of good friends. From Trozell, whose trip marked her first time bouldering and her first climbing road trip, to Morgan, who's ever-growing to-do list still didn't get any shorter despite some truly inspiring effort. Each trip to the east side of the Sierras is a special one, and I always hope to capture a little bit of that in my photos when I head down there.  Grand Traverse of the Laguna Grande de la Sierra
Photos by Camilo Lopez - On November 27th, 2009, Anna Pfaff and Camilo Lopez successfully completed a traverse of all the peaks in the Laguna Grande de la Sierra Located in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, Colombia, South America. The Laguna Grande de la Sierra is located on the West side of the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy. It consists of six peaks: Pre-Concavo (5,100 m), Concavo (5,215 m), Concovito (5,115 m), Portales (4,920 m), El Toti (5,125 m), and Pan de Azucar (5,235 m). We climbed in five days, alpine-style using four high camps along the traverse and having no prior acclimatization.  Climbing in Kalymnos
Photos by James Q Martin - These images were captured during a late-fall getaway to the island of Kalymnos, Greece, one of the Dodecanese islands and known to climbers as a limestone paradise. The island is home to more than 800 single-pitch routes, with the climbing season best suited for spring and fall. Easy approaches, beautiful views, and seaside crags attract climbers from all over the globe. Read more about this trip featured in Urban Climber.  Winter Bouldering in the High Spanish Sierra of Albarracin
Photos by David Balcells - This winter, we planned a bouldering trip to Albarracin, Spain, for the second week of January. Right at that time, a huge snow storm hit the northeast of Spain. The trip from Barcelona to Albarracin was an adventure by itself. It took us ten hours to reach the boulders, when it normally takes half of that. With the boulders full of ice and snow-capped, the conditions were not ideal. However, all boulders were let alone to us. Super-motivated by the amazing landscape, we climbed some roof problems taking profit of the excellent friction.  Winter Granite in Cresciano, Switzerland
Photos by Claudia Colonia - Featured in this gallery is a series of black and white photos from one of Switzerland's great boulderfields — Cresciano. The fine-grained granite wonderland is home to hundreds of amazing problems like Fred Nicole's testpiece Dreamtime, established in November 2000 (which is possibly the first 8c/V15 boulder problem ever) and Dave Graham's Confessions (8b+/V14) recently flashed by Adam Ondra (which is possibly the hardest boulder flash ever) in December 2009. Shown in this set are a few mouthwater slopers and crimps demonstrated by Italian Alessandro Penna.  Bouldering in Qingdao, China
Photos by Rocker - The coastal city of Qingdao in the Shandong province is known as one of China's major tourist areas. In recent years, however, the city has been host to a new kind of tourist: climbers seeking fun lines up the granite cliffs. Boulderfields scatter the land as well, from the valleys to the beaches. On rest days, climbers can check out the local markets, fresh seafood vendors, and mountain culture.  Making of the Asgard Project
Photos by Alastair Lee / Posing Productions - Follow world-class climbers Leo Houlding and Sean Leary as they sky dive into Baffin Island, Canada, to pursue Houlding's ambitious goal to make the first free ascent of Mt. Asgard's north face. Regarded as one of the most famous of the Baffin Mountains, and possibly one of the most difficult big walls in the world, the team planned to make a wingsuit descent from the summit. Filmmaker Alistair Lee captured the duo as they attempted the ascent late in the summer season. For more info, visit TheAsgardProject.com.  HORSE PENS 40 BOULDERING
Photos by Dan Brayack and Jeff Wales - Sculpted by the ravages of time, Horse Pens 40 is home to acres of bulbous faces, blunt prows, delicate slabs, crimpy overhangs, and water grooves. The owners, Mike and Gina Schultz, are models for southern hospitality. Horse Pens 40 provides the maximum amount of problems for the least amount of effort. With hundreds of lines from V3-V5 and the same amount from V6-V8, Horse Pens 40 is a boulderers dream come true. Check out the new guidebook by Adam Henry from Greener Grass Publishing at www.GreenerGrassPublishing.com.  ABS 11 National Championships - Alexandria, Virginia
Photos by Steve Woods / WoodsFamilyClimbs.com - On February 12-14, 2010, Alex Puccio and Daniel Woods finished on top at the ABS 11 National Championships at Sportrock in Alexandria, Virginia. Matt Bosley finished second with Robert D’Anastasio grabbing the third spot. For the women, Alex Johnson finished second and Francesca Metcalf claimed third. The top three men and women made the U.S. bouldering team for 2010. See www.absnationals.org for full results.  L'isola che non c'e - The island does not exist
Photos by Stefan Kürzi / www.stefankuerzi.ch - Swiss world-class climber Fred Nicole completed another milestone last year on the 14th of March, 2009. His new route L’isola che non c’è (Translation: The island does not exist) is located in a cave near Amden, Switzerland, and sitstarts at the lowest point following a logical and natural line about 15 meters long to the exit of the cave. Because the cave is situated in the middle of a cliff, its exit is more than 10 meters above the ground. Nicole decided to climb the exit with a rope. He didn’t grade the boulder, but thinks it’s somewhere in the 9th french grade.  Bouldering in Belapur, India
Photos by Scott Clark / scottclarkphotography.net - In the fall of 2009 I began climbing with a great group of Indian climbers in the "mountains" surrounding Belapur, near Mumbai, in western India. The local climbers are strong and dedicated, spending seemingly every weekend climbing somewhere in the area. They come from all over — from Lower Parel in Central Mumbai to Pune, three hours further to the East. They search out new cliff lines to climb every possibility, mostly bouldering but also some sport routes too. From this site you can Mumbai in the distance through the haze.  UrbanClimberMag.com Covershows
A continually growing collection of covershots, from many great photographers and adventurers, that graced UCMAG's homepage over the last year. Images from Photopost, Photo Galleries, Events, Extended Features, First Burn and more. I would like to thank all of our dedicated contributors and uploaders for making UrbanClimberMag.com what it is today. Please contact me if you'd like to have your photos and stories featured here. —Luke Laeser, Online Editor  MEMORIAL MARIA LUISA XX EDITION WINNERS
Photos courtesy of Memorial Maria Luisa - The awards for the 20th annual competition have now been decided. From thousands of photographs the Jury has selected 104, with the ones shown here being the most memorable of the 2009 edition. You can view the entire selection now at memorialmarialuisa.com, although the real moment to enjoy them will be during the audiovisual presentation to be made at the prize giving ceremony in Oviedo, Spain on the 27th of February, 2010.  Bouldering in the Southeastern United States
Photos by Luke Laeser - The sandstone boulders of the southeastern states are becoming widely respected as world class climbing destinations that offer a variety of styles and grades for all climbers. The perfect grainy textures provide amazing friction on everything from horizontal roofs to sneaky slab problems. Shown in this gallery are photos taken over the last four years from the Stone Fort (aka Little Rock City) and Pot Point near Chattanooga, Tennessee; RockTown which lies to the west LaFayette, Georgia; and Horse Pens 40, to the north of Birmingham, Alabama. |
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