How does one describe perhaps the single greatest event of his lifetime? I was incredibly stoked to win anything from The North Face, but to win a climbing trip for two anywhere in the lower forty-eight and a spot in a North Face ad was pretty much unbelievable. As a matter of fact, my friend Wes, my friend I chose to take along, didn't believe I had won for two weeks after I had told him. I live north of Atlanta in Dawsonville, GA, and the only decent climbing nearby is a boulder field called Boatrock. To climb routes we have to drive at least two or three hours, so when the opportunity arose to go as far away as I wanted, I got as far from Georgia as possible -Yosemite.

We decided Tuolumne Meadows would be the ideal location, because it would offer us the chance to boulder and climb our first multi-pitch routes. Hooked up with our North Face equipment, from sleeping bags to packs, we headed for the Meadow, whose extreme heat during the day and chill during dawn and night made the bouldering amazing early and late and the routes ideal during the middle of the day. But hands down, the coolest part of the trip was that we would be climbing with pros Lisa Rands, Cedar Wright, and Renan Ozturk. At first we were a bit apprehensive about climbing with the pros, whom we thought would be buried in their egos and agendas, but nothing could've been further from the truth. The professionally athletes seemed to be stoked on how enthusiastic we were about climbing, and their constant excitement fed our confidence and exhilaration. We had innumerable opportunities lying ahead of us, and it was kind of funny to hear the pros as us what we wanted to try.

We were pretty surprised that when we decided to go work on a boulder problem while the North Face team and the pro climbers went to prepare for a photo shoot, Lisa Rands chose to come with us. But that just shows how relaxed and cool she was. So there we are with one of the best boulderers in the world, just hanging out and climbing.

The next day we sent our first real multi pitch route, the West Crack. We did it in teams; Wes climbed with Renan while I climbed with Cedar. Cedar managed to run out a six-pitch climb into something like three pitches and we free scrambled the last fifty feet or so. We got a good six hundred feet or so off the deck and the landscape was incredible. We were just surrounded by these massive granite domes in all directions, and to the southwest sat Half Dome. You can't really ask for a better setting.

This trip seriously changed my life. Everyone there was so awesome. Watching Cedar and Renan climb Death Crack before breakfast, and watching Lisa make short work of every sick boulder problem in sight were inspiring moments to say the least. I will forever look up to these people and hold them in high regard for their personal skill as well as just being cool as hell. They are all honorary Gnardogs in my book. I learned that you get out of climbing what you put into it. I also confirmed my suspicions that

Yosemite might be the coolest place on Earth.

-Jason Plemmons, The North Face Excursion winner

Under The Gun
RADAR.NET

With Radar.net you no longer have to be in the comfort of your room, ages after your latest sends, to show friends photos from your road trip or your first ascents. Radar.net allows you to use your camera phone to take pictures at the crag and send them to the website where they will instantly be posted for your friends to view. Unlike the open public photo sharing websites, Radar.net focuses on connecting select groups of friends through photo- documentation of their lives. Urban Climber has partnered with Radar to create another medium through which climbers can keep their community updated on the exciting changes that occur every day in the climbing world. Your experiences no longer have to be mere stories for your friends; by joining Radar you're given the chance to share your experiences with the climbing community as soon as they happen.

Check out Coin to see how staying under the gun can win you a Metolius crashpad.

CLIMBING ROCKS

Of course it does - But we want to hear "why" from you. Send us a few sentences that'll convince even the most diehard indoor enthusiast to get off the couch and go outside to pull down, and you could win a nice little package from Khadejha.

Send it over to 411@urbanclimbermag.com and write "Climbing Rocks" in the subject line.

Nau, Inc.

With the release of its spring collection, Nau Inc, a new outdoor apparel manufacturer from Portland, OR, will blend sustainability, performance and style in clothing that ranges from more technical outdoor shells to lifestyle/street wear designed for the multi-dimensional outdoor athlete. As part of Nau's effort to be a catalyst for change, its clothing is made of sustainable materials like PLA (poly-lactic acid), biopolymer and organic cotton. In addition, they are giving customers the opportunity to direct five percent of every sale to an environmental, social or humanitarian organization of their choosing. Nau products will be available online starting this January, and in the early months of 2007, the first four retail stores will open, likely in Portland, Seattle, the Bay area and Chicago. Ian Yolles, vice president of marketing at Nau, believes that businesses have far more responsibility than they choose to accept. He believes that "by demonstrating the business viability of implementing enhanced environmental and social responsibilities, [Nau] can show other businesses that doing the right thing is good business.

For more information, or to check out Nau's blog, the "Thought Kitchen, visit: www.nau.com.

EVENTS

Urban Climber Magazine is proud to sponsor all climbing events. Here are a few of the gyms whose comps we've sponsored this season.

Sanctuary Rock Gym
Boston Rock Gym
Metro Rock
Summit Climbing Gym
Twisters Rock Gym
Sante Fe Climbing Gym
Stone Gardens
Extra Vertical
The Spot Bouldering Gym
The Front SLC
Rock Ventures
Island Rock Gym
Red Barn @ RIT
ClimbX
Red Rock Climbing Center
Nampa Rec Ctr Climbing Wall
Boulderdash Indoor Rock Climbing
Upper Limits Rock Climbing Gym

To submit your comp for sponsorshop go to www.urbanclimbermag.com/events

UCTV LEADER BOARD

Evilution by Mike Call
The Reactions by Fragllo
FUSE trailer by Joe Iurato
Shangri by Joe Iurato
An Englishman in New York by Joe Iurato
I Remember When by Parlor Trick
Big Crimpin Boat Rock by Avo
Specimen trailer by Chuck Fryberger
Misugaki by DrTopo
SoulCal by Paul Dusatko

Taken from: www.urbanclimbermag.tv

NUMBERS

804,704: The number of minutes of videos viewed on ucmag.tv
0: The number of minutes dedicated to climbing on ESPN

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