Here…

It’s just about that time, the long awaited 2012 Smuggs Ice Bash is coming up this weekend! Be sure to make it out to Petra Cliffs, here in Burlington, VT, on Friday for the Ice Bash kickoff party at 6 pm to start off the festivities right. Josh Worley and Matt McCormick have been working hard setting some kickass routes for the mixed climbing competition. Both men and women will be competing for $200 cash prizes. For the weekend, make your way out to Smugglers Notch to partake in some excellent ice climbing and signup for a clinic while you’re at it! Good times are guaranteed for all in attendance!

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Help protect Maine’s North Woods! After an unsuccessful attempt during the last legislative session to abolish the Land Use and Regulation Commission (LURC), there is a new attempt to weaken LURC. A new report allows county commissioners to appoint themselves LURC commissioners without legislative approval, and allows counties to “opt-out” of LURC. If you want to help preserve Maine’s North Woods for hiking and climbing, call or e-mail your legislators and let them know how you feel. There is a lot of climbing to be had up there so this is an important issue to be aware of.

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Even though the weather has not quite been up to par recently there’s still some great ice to be found in the region. Ryan Stefiuk shows us some pretty great looking “backcountry crags” in the Catskill region, including a picture of a perfect looking pillar. So have no fear! Even though the conditions aren’t always perfect there are still some great climbs out there, and as we move further into winter there are only more to come!

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Although it’s not exactly in the neighborhood, a lot has been going on over at K2. With temperatures hovering around a balmy -30 degrees Celsius, along with high winds, the road for many winter climbers at K2 has been a treacherous one. Russian Vladimir Belous was recently flown out of the area after suffering from frostbite on his fingers. So while it’s too hot for most of us here in Vermont, be sure to send some warm thoughts to those out there climbing in colder temperatures.

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Cerro Torre is nowhere near the Northeast US, but the recent events that occurred in Patagonia have been making so much buzz that it may as well be. Hayden Kennedy and Jason Kruk made the first “fair means” of Cerro Torre which is an amazing feat. During the process they also removed many of the bolts that were placed in 1970 by Cesare Maestri. We are without a doubt pro “fair means” over here at Climberism, but was it right to take down an historic route in the name of purism? That argument will likely make big news for a long time, so we’ll leave that judgment up to you.