May 1st 1963, Jim Whittaker, now 84, was the first American to reach the top of the world and summit Mount Everest.

The BBC put together a great short video remembering this moment in time. 

I love the line that "if you are not living on the edge, you are taking up to much space."

Adventures continue to happen, but this was a magnificent climb.  All the trekking and preparation is far beyond my ability.  Good job Jim and Sherpa Gambu!

Click on the photo to visit the BBC page with the video.

The annual Palisades Adopt a Crag event is coming up, so plan to be there, do your part, and have some fun!  

Be there Sat April 20th from 9am to 2pm.  Plenty of schwag and good stuff.  Contact Eric at eric.weidenman@doyotes.usd.edu for more info if you have questions.

Sorry I did not get this on the calendar sooner, but if you are not doing anything tomorrow Sunday April 14th, come down to the Outdoor Campus in Rapid City from 1 to 4pm, and hear Jan Conn speak about rock climbing and caving.  Should be a good show.

I saw this video on the Outdoor Research clothing site.  Thought it did a great job of explaining how things happen with the people who manage the land that we depend upon for access to rock climb.

So it may be that because I am sitting here in an office after mind numbing meetings, and over 5 months dealing with a personal access issue across public and private land to a piece of dirt with a special history that has been deeded to me......instead of being out on the road rock climbing and mountain biking in the warm south west sun, but from where I am sitting, it has been proven to me.....with 100% certainty that if you don't have legal access, you don't have dirt...or in the case of climbers.... rock.  Loosing your access might not be fair or logical, but it can be real.

So with this in mind, I encourage ever climber out there to become a member and donate to the Access Fund.   If you don't believe me...check out what the Access Fund has done for you lately.  Then double up the pleasure and join the Access Fund and the Black Hills Climbers Coalition both at the same time!

So, the question is... Do you N-E-E-D that extra double Mocha?

Yes, perhaps rock climbing is becoming to mainstream...if enough people are looking to understand the lingo that there is now a book about it.  The video below is cute...even if it is in the end an advertisement.

With a little looking around, I learned that Wikipedia of course has a climbers slang glossary/dictionary.   But if you need a hard copy for the coffee table or to give to your parents so they don't think you are taking drugs when you come home covered in sweat and chalk...you can get the Climbing Dictionary: Mountaineering Slang, Terms, Neologisms and Lingo

so that when your rock climbing partner says " I can dirt you or we can abseil"... you know what your choices are.

Have fun...climb on!

So, ya, today is my birthday.  I suppose I should be doing some rad ascent of Devils Tower in the 11 degree air that is blowing a few snow flakes around here, but I'm sitting around, reading about the Kyrgz people and the far out life they live and how they question their existence in the same manner many of us do.  Thanks to National Geographic for their awesome magazine.  Along with that, some work on the website, and icing a stupid injured elbow...I'm reminded that its a slippery slope this getting older....

 Anyhow... I came across a well done video.  Fritz Cahall is a very very talented story teller that continues to impress me with his work and its ability to make me think about things.  Enjoy!

I'm pretty sure I'm not tough enough to be part of this climbing family, but 11-year-old Brooke Raboutou sure does climb hard.  If you are looking for some climbing motivation, perhaps this little video will get you off the couch.  As for me....its snowing...there is a fresh pan of brownies just out of the oven... So hard resist.

Gotta love a little smart phone video about ice skating on Boxelder creek in the Black Hills. This ditty was shot by Mike Ray.  I hope you enjoy.

If you have been to the Black Hills area in the last few years, you know that pine beetles and the trees they kill have been part of our life.  It is an incredible landscape change.

Custer State Park has been very aggressive about removing  bug trees.  This was a presentation on Jan. 15 about the bugs and the treatment by Custer State Park.  Pretty interesting stuff.

 They are logging the heck out of the area in an effort to get ahead of the beetles.  Time will tell how it all works out, but be prepared for change next time you visit Custer State Park. If biologist knew the easy answer they would be using it, but the drought and the beetles have no easy answer...just change.