The Goat

You see where they’re going with this about halfway through the video and it gets a bit nerve racking. I’m glad they give the gross tonnage of the stadium at the beginning of the video. Seems like I could do the same jump if I just got a few friends who were good with Photoshop—well, I would probably still chicken out.

via Outdoorzy

I’ve been waiting for this ever since Aaron Ralston cut off his own arm after being pinned under a boulder. He now carries a TerraFix PLB (in his other hand, presumably) that alerts the Coast Guard, National Guard, Salvation Army, Blackwater mercenaries, etc. etc., and costs an ar…sorry…a ton, both to purchase and especially when all those dudes show up at the door after your dog accidentally activates it. The $169 SPOT Messenger is like a dumbass-on-a-budget version that sends check-in messages, a “Help Me!” alert, or GPS progress updates by satellite to your family or friends without simultaneously alerting NATO. It uses Google Maps, and it’s endorsed by none other than ultimate badass/Canadian Les Stroud, better known as Survivorman. Finally, I can go outside without tethering myself to the porch in fear.

via GearLog

Some photos from the good ‘ol days, back before Everest was closed to outsiders so that the occupying country could host a torch-carrying PR event at the summit. Though Bentley Beetham was likely a guy with a thick accent, goofy teeth, and a tweed mountaineering suit, he was also a photographer who took several dozen photos of the 1924 Everest Expedition. Now Beetham’s photos are online so we waste time at work while sitting in cubicles.

via Outside Magazine

If you’re really worried about losing your keys but don’t want to hassle with a screw gate ‘biner, then check out the BiWire. Rock Exotica offers it as a security feature for people who can’t figure out how to work screw gate or auto-locking carabiners. Weighing 2.4 ounces, it probably won’t get much use besides clipping that janitor-sized key ring to your collegiate backpack, but hey, it’s way more edgy and core than normal ‘biners other kids on campus are using to tote keys around.

via GetOutdoors

It’s the Looney Toon tie of the climbing wall. Seems like a laugh when you’re in the store, but then it’s just depressing when other people see it. HRT holds are made from conventional polyurethane, except for their hangboard, which is hollow polyurethane. They do it to save weight, which is odd since not a lot of people complain about the weight of their hangboard. Mostly people just complain about how much money they wasted since they never use them.

“Hybrid bag” is a nice way to describe a down skirt that zips to your jacket to make a cozy sleeping pod. The AlpKit PipeDream 200 is a sleeping bag that instead of insulation in the upper half, it comes with a vest sewn into the sleeping bag that you pull on under your jacket. It’s made for people who don’t mind spending all day and night in the same down jacket for days on end in the interest of shaving a few ounces off their pack weight. The AlpKit PipeDream 200 costs about $130.

Because a climbing rope won’t fit into a bowling bag, and that messenger bag makes your spine as crooked as a switchback. The Petzl Bug is a backpack made for single day multi-pitch climbing. It sits high on your back so you can access gear on your harness while nylon webbing across the bottom holds a rope. An external guidebook pocket on the side and a topo map pocket on the shoulder strap make you look put-together, even if it’s a Bartender’s Bible in the side and Disneyland map up front. The Petzl Bug Backpack weighs about 20 ounces and costs about $65.

via Outdoors Magic

Metolius is adding a new line of cams to their already crowded store shelves. The Metolius Monster single-stem cam will be the fifth sixth style of cam offered by the protection mavens at Metolius, and these fat-lobed cams are built with a narrow head to fit into awkward placements and hold well in soft rock. A single cable minimizes drag, and these cams will be available in sizes 00 through 6 (full sizes). The Metolius Monster Cams cost about $60 each.

via GetOutdoors

Shot mostly in the North Stairwell, Parking Garage: Beyond the Limit picks up at the highest and most inhospitable camp in the parking garage. High production value, these guys are great.

“My name is Pam, could you just call me Pam.”

via Backpacker

Living in the Midwest means you’re going look at buildings around town the way Utah climbers might hike through Little Cottonwood Canyon looking for secret climbing spots. Except instead of blindfolding your friends when you take them to your secret crag, you’ll tell all your friends and post pictures of your roof crack all over your blog. This climbing duo from Kansas has gone to parking garages to find crack climbs much longer than you can find in any gym.

via GetOutdoors [Alpinist]