The Swiss town of Interlaken is a sporting utopia of sorts. From sky diving and mountaineering to sailing, the options cover the gamut of air, ground and water activities. Nestled in between some of the most imposing and famous mountains of the Swiss Alps and with a direct view of the infamous Eiger, it also makes and ideal starting point to reach various climbing locations across the Canton of Bern.
Climbing Hall Cero Climbing, Hiroshima Japan
Hiroshima city has two climbing halls, pb climbing near Yokogawa station and Cero Climbing just East of Hiroshima station in Mokage. With some time to spare, I dropped by Cero climbing to see what was on offer, and was pleasantly surprised!
Jorg Verhoeven Free Climbing The Nose, El Capitan, Yosemite Valley
The Nose, on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley is probably one of the most famous big wall routes in the world. Climbers probably know the infamous story of the valley and of Lynn Hill‘s first free ascent in 1993. But to truly understand the magnitude of that feat and put it in context of modern day climbing is difficult for most of us normal climbing enthusiasts. This is where Jorg Verhoeven‘s video of his free ascent in 2014 really puts this climb into perspective.
Improving Your Climbing Training Routine
Every climber is looking to improve, get that little bit stronger, tick off that one elusive project. But just how do you go about building an effective training plan that enables you to successfully work towards your goals? Just rocking up to the hall and doing your thing sometimes doesn’t cut it. Preparing for a future trip to Tonsai, Thailand had me dig out some old gems from Neil Gresham on structured training. If you too are looking to switch up your training routine, you may find these useful!
Climbing Hall Vertic Halle, Valais Switzerland
Vertic Halle is located just a few kilometres from Martigny in the canton of Valais (Wallis). This climbing gym has been around for a number of years now, but a recently opened bouldering extension has drawn some wider attention to this otherwise out-of-the-way location.
Edelrid Sit Start Night Oasis, Review
For those who boulder outdoors often, having a selection of crash pads depending on difficulty and terrain can make life a lot easier. Particularly when it comes to more challenging areas, a one-size-fits-all approach usually doesn’t work. Enter the niche category of sit start pads which have been gradually added to most major manufacturers’ portfolios. Designed to be small and light, yet provide good enough protection for those tricky starts, do these pads make an ideal supplement to their bigger brothers? Here, I share my impressions of the edelrid Sit Start Night Oasis pad.
Bouldering in Tsavas, Fribourg Switzerland
Tucked away in the heart of the Gruyère Regional Nature Park is an astonishing bouldering area called Tsavas. At almost 1’600m, these boulders lie just underneath the Vanil Noir mountain range in the Swiss Canton of Fribourg. You’ll have to go out of your way to get here though, with no public transport link, and your only option being a winding one lane road up the picturesque mountainside. Then, a further 45min hike up 400m will finally see you to the area. Your reward? A stunningly beautiful mountain valley, rolling green hills and some fantastic blocks just waiting to be climbed.
Black Diamond Impact, Review
As the smallest of the Black Diamond crash pad range, the Impact is designed to be a compact alternative to the bigger Drop Zone and Mondo. But can the Impact hold its own when it comes to the rigours of the outdoors? Read on for my impressions.
Bimano, Bouldering Guide for Switzerland
Having just recently moved to Switzerland I’ve been looking to explore what the country has to offer from a bouldering perspective. One of the challenges here is the lack of official bouldering guides (many of which are out of print). With many small sectors, dispersed widely across the country and with three official languages it can be a challenge to find information on the web as well. Enter bimano, an app developed in Switzerland that tries to capture the country’s bouldering heritage in one easy to use format. All this right on your phone and in your pocket!
Bouldering in Albarracin, Aragon Spain
A climbing partner of mine made a trip to Albarracin in October 2007 and was all praise for this fairly new bouldering area. His description was of a magical forest with huge, red boulders with giant roofs, which offered hundreds of problems and yet still had near endless potential. So instead of visiting one of the usual bouldering haunts this Spring, I decided to give this area a try. So is this Spain’s version of Fontainebleau?
