The Lippi Selk Bag is a revolutionary new sleeping bag system which allows you the maximum mobility you need whilst keeping warm. This new concept retains the functionality of the traditional sleeping bag.

Himalman evaluated the new Lippi Selk Bag:

The Selk Bag, named for the Selk´Nam, a nomadic tribe in Chile, comes in it’s own stuff sack, just like any other sleeping bag, although I quickly noticed that it was quite large, which probably ruled it out immediately for any serious backpacker. Removing it from the stuff sack was easy, but getting it back it was a lot trickier.

In his post Himalman writes a very detailed and informative review of the Lippi Selk Bag i think it’s worth to read.

courtesy of Jim Frazier

The Poudre Canyon is a narrow verdant canyon, approximately 40 mi long, on the upper Cache la Poudre River, called the “Poudre” for short, which locals pronounce as “Pooder” in Larimer County, Colorado in the United States. The canyon is a glacier-formed valley through the foothills of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains northwest of Fort Collins.

The canyon begins in northern Rocky Mountain National Park, at an elevation of approximately 9,000 feet, where the Poudre descends from near the continental divide. It winds gently to the northeast, then east, descending the slope of the Colorado Tertiary Pediment, emerging through the southern end of the Laramie Foothills north of Bellvue at an elevation of approximately 5,000 feet.

Jamie Emerson was at the Poudre Canyon, read about his adventure in his post about the Poudre Canyon.

courtesy of Markus_76

Crack climbing requires subtle and strenuous technique where only the hope of mastering lies in experience. All crack climbing invloves either jamming or torquing the limbs or body inside the crack. Just as in face climbing, the idea is to keep your center of gravity over the feet as much as possible.

Body position is important in crack climbing, but perhaps the greater challenge for the aspiring crack climber is figuring out how to create “holds” from vertical cracks.

There are two types of jamming. With the classic “hand jam”, the hand is placed in an appropriately-sized crack and the muscles expand the hand inside the crack. The various counter-pressures result in a locked or jammed hand, which can be very secure when properly placed. The second method involves torquing and camming the appendage in a bottleneck or constriction in the crack. In wide cracks, the limbs are often twisted or stacked and in very wide cracks you’ll find that wedging and cross-pressures are the only way up.

Littlepo writes about her first introduction with crack climbing

Experienced climbers told me “crack climbing is all about techniques”; instructional books said that learning how to climb cracks is like learning to ride a bicycle, once you get it, you have it. I love technique-oriented climbing, because I am never the one able to “power through” a climb. Besides, I know how to ride a bike; there is no reason I can’t crack climb.

A Prusik is a friction hitch or knot used to put a loop of cord around a rope, applied in climbing, canyoneering, mountaineering, caving, rope rescue, and by arborists. The term Prusik is a name for both the loops of cord and the hitch, and is the verb to prusik.

The Prusik hitch is named for its inventor, Austrian mountaineer Dr. Karl Prusik. It was shown in a 1931 Austrian mountaineering manual for rope ascending. It was used on several mountaineering routes of the era to ascend the final summit peak, where a rope could be thrown over the top and anchored so that climbers could attain the summit by prusiking up the other side of the rope.he benefit of the knot is that it when weighted, it grips the rope that it is tied around. When the weight is removed, it is free to slide. This enables it to be used in a number of self rescue situations.

All climbing- blog offers us a great video on how to tie a proper prusik knot.

If you enjoy scenic views of deep river canyons or rock climbing, Smith Rock State Park is the place for you. Smith Rock State Park is a state park located in central Oregon’s high desert near the town of Terrebonne. Its sheer cliffs of tuff and basalt are ideal for rock climbing of all difficulty levels. Smith Rock is generally considered the birthplace of modern American sport climbing, and is host to many climbing routes that are considered cutting-edge even by today’s standards.

Smith Rock State Park is host to many miles of hiking trails, the meandering Crooked River and views of the volcanic peaks of Oregon’s Cascade Range.

Sara from the rock climber girl- blog writes about her latest trip to the Smith Rock State Park.

About twice a year, I participate in a herd climbing trip… with a large group, including usually some newer partners, and an unclear organizational hierarchy and loose organization period. Herd trips have their ups and downs. They generally remind me of why I travel best in a smaller pack; but on the other hand, the more people, the more there is to laugh at, so what herd trips lack in peace and quiet and number of pitches, they make up for in humor.