Interested in learning to rock climb?

[JPFreek1]

Our climbing correspondent and superman of the mountains, Jeff Haley, wrote this article for us which we republished recently and I thought I'd share it with those of you looking to get into rock climbing:

http://online.jpfreek.com/2010/08/29...rock-climbing/

If you have some cool climbing stories and/or photos to share, post them as a comment at the end of the article or send me an email at editor@jpfreek.com as we'd like to see where fellow ExPo members enjoy their climbing. Cheers!

[JerryYukon]

Enjoyed the article.........................

Rock climbing at Seneca Rocks, West Virginia:



But I prefer ice climbing. This is on Mount Washington, New Hampshire:



But my favorite is mountaineering. This is a climbing trip to Tupungato (21,490') in Chile:





And a climbing trip to Aconcagua (22,841') in Argentina:

[JPFreek1]

Great photos and awesome trips you've shown...nice! I, too, enjoy ice climbing and mountaineering and the author of the article, Jeff Haley, was one of my high school and college buddies who I still climb with regularly.

By the way, how was the climb up Mount Washington? This is a climb I've wanted to do for some time and I have heard that the wind on the summit can reach speeds of 150mph+. Also, tell us more about Aconcagua as I'm quite envious of that climb as well.

[kellymoe]

I submitted a few stories to JP Freek a few years ago, one was on climbing Whitney and the other was Kayaking and Rafting Piru Creek or Sespe Creek, do you have links to those still?

[JerryYukon]

I like Mount Washington. I've hiked up to the summit (3) or (4) times, but this was the first time I did one of the ravines (I forget which one this was). The ice was good. It was a really long day and night. I have fond memories. Regarding winds, yeah....it can get pretty bad up there. I think that the highest recorded wind on the summit was about (230)+ mph.

I have mixed feelings about Aconcagua. It's a beautiful mountain but I don't think that I'd ever go back (never say never). There were just too many people for my liking. I'm not very good with crowds. And it's completely commercialized. Tupungato, although not quite as high, is basically the same climb, and we had the mountain to ourselves. And it's still very remote.

You're lucky to have a buddy from school like that. I'm sure you value it.

[JPFreek1]

I submitted a few stories to JP Freek a few years ago, one was on climbing Whitney and the other was Kayaking and Rafting Piru Creek or Sespe Creek, do you have links to those still?

Woh, great to hear from you! Yes, I'm actually planning to republish those articles on the website in the next few weeks so as soon as we get the syncing problem fixed that we're having right now on the website, I'll post up links of those articles. Those were both very enjoyable reads for those who haven't seen them. I'll keep y'all posted, and thanks again for the contribution.

[JPFreek1]

I like Mount Washington. I've hiked up to the summit (3) or (4) times, but this was the first time I did one of the ravines (I forget which one this was). The ice was good. It was a really long day and night. I have fond memories. Regarding winds, yeah....it can get pretty bad up there. I think that the highest recorded wind on the summit was about (230)+ mph.

I have mixed feelings about Aconcagua. It's a beautiful mountain but I don't think that I'd ever go back (never say never). There were just too many people for my liking. I'm not very good with crowds. And it's completely commercialized. Tupungato, although not quite as high, is basically the same climb, and we had the mountain to ourselves. And it's still very remote.

You're lucky to have a buddy from school like that. I'm sure you value it.

Every trip report I've read of Aconcagua has said similar things. It's a beautiful climb but too crowded. I tend to be the same way in that I like feeling like it's just me and my surroundings and the technical challenge that brings me together with the mountains. It seems like this gets dulled a bit when there are 20+ people on the same summit!

Yeah, Jeff is one of my closest friends and he is honestly the one responsible for having gotten me interested in the outdoors and Jeep vehicles. Good friends are hard to find, no doubt, but I've been fortunate to have several very close ones that I still see and get to enjoy the things we are so passionate about.

[LateNate]

I am always hoping to find more climbers on this forum.