Metolius Super Chalk Issues

I'm putting this out there to see if anyone else has been having issues with new Metolius Super Chalk. I have been finding that it makes my fingertips slick up and makes holds feel glassy and slippery. I finally switched chalk bags today to some leftover older Metolius Super Chalk after trying the new stuff for a couple of weeks.After making the switch, fifteen minutes later I did a V10 second try that I had been working without any success earlier this year as well casually doing the first two moves of Smith Overhang V8. I will be looking for some older bags locally to compare and possibly switching brands. I'll post any responses I get from Metolius when I hear from them.

This is what the good stuff looks like:



The bad chalk has a woman on some sandstone sloper problem; good luck sticking to a sloper with what's inside the bag. Noting that it's made in China, maybe it's the melamine that's the problem

Vimeo

Go to Tim Kemple's Blog over at http://www.kemplemedia.com. He has a video posted that clearly shows the future of web video. Grainy Youtube videos may be a thing of the past pretty soon and that's fine by me. Now if I could afford a video camera that shot HD... but that's another topic. More on the Dragon's outside performance this weekend.

Go to the Climbing Narc for a funny discussion of the infamous Clear Creek Dyno Conspiracy.

It's Obama!

What more is there to say? Colorado is a blue state. Musgrave is gone. Udall is in. Not since we moved here in 1994 has this state gone Democratic. Now on to the hard stuff.

Is this the dream job?

At UKClimbing there is an interview with Duncan Bell, the director of Hot Rock, a "continuous global climbing expedition". Go to the website here and look around. If you have a bunch of time off and a fair amount of cash, this could be a pretty good option. If you don't the have money and time, the website is a great armchair traveler excursion.

I recommend taking a look at the other interviews in the series as well. While I am generally pretty happy doing what I do for a living, it is interesting to see what others have done in the world of climbing.

Alexander Huber Interview

Go to Planet Mountain for this interview with Alexander Huber. Also at the same site look at this story about Adam Ondra.

Quick Visit to Morrison

This morning, I went to talk with a landscape painter who lives in Lakewood, literally 5 minutes from Morrison. So I stopped to look at the bouldering again since I haven't been in ages. Center Route looks curiously feasible. Thanks to cinema verite artistes such as Sock Hands I can build beta skills and muscle memory from the comforts of my desk. What's the name for the version that doesn't use the RH undercling but goes straight up from the OK crimp with the LH and hits the "deck of cards" RH? Anyway one of these winter days perhaps.

Talked with Chuffer last night. He is off discovering little oases of rock in the woods of PA and seems very happy to have landed in the DC area. We certainly miss him though.