In the year 2000, Jason “Singer” Smith, John Dickey, Tommy Caldwell, and Beth Rodden went on an expedition to Kyrgyzstan to climb a number of alpine peaks in the Pamir-Alai mountain range. What they didn’t know is that they would be taken hostage by Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

I often think back to this story, meeting the characters throughout the years, and seeing how each of them deal with this traumatic event individually. For those who are interested, Jason Singer, or Jason ‘Singer’ Smith talks of his experience here in a podcast by Mysterious Universe. Please scroll to minute 30.28 for Jason’s interview and lasts about an hour. The interview itself is sometimes catered towards a non-climbing crowd but this story is really worth a listen.

Interesting article by The New Yorker as climbing (and corporate advertising) take over the fitness world.

“Kevin Jorgeson spent the better part of a month swaddled in Gore-Tex in a tent suspended twelve hundred feet above the Yosemite Valley floor, eating dry salami sandwiches and bathing with baby wipes. It’s no wonder, then, that he didn’t own a suit until recently. But on a cold night in late January, two weeks after completing his historic nineteen-day ascent up the sheer rock face of Yosemite’s Dawn Wall, Jorgeson was ensconced in the cluttered back room of the Brooklyn Boulders climbing gym, discussing the finer points of men’s tailoring. “I’m thirty and I didn’t own a suit until last night,” he said, grinning. “I’m gonna rock that shit.” The suit in question—a blue Ralph Lauren number from Barneys—was a sign of how much Jorgeson’s life had changed since he and his partner, Tommy Caldwell, completed perhaps the most difficult climb in the world. It was a coming-of-age moment for the sport of climbing as well, and many in the outdoor industry are hoping that the pair’s feat proves to be the moment the sport breaks out of its crunchy bubble and into the broader consciousness.”

Read the rest of the article by Clare Malone here at The New Yorker website.

For those interested, here is a link to Will Stanhope’s latest blog post courtesy of Arcteryx.

“When I was eighteen I landed a job as a “Nature Guide” at the Capilano Suspension Bridge. It was the most relaxing summer job I’ve ever had. While my other friends were tediously perched on a ladder painting houses or straining with a wheel-barrow load of gravel, my job was simply to saunter around the park in an old-fashioned fisherman’s outfit, pointing out the hemlocks and cedars to the tourists. On my down time I’d hide underneath the swinging bridge, eat ice cream and stare at the swirling green water of Capilano River and daydream about rock climbing.

For full article, please click here.