Lynn Hill Blogs : A Rock Climber Blogs

Sorry I have not been updating! I have been working on a climbing technique video , amongst other things.

Here is a recent update I wrote:

Some people assume that the lifestyle of a climber is mostly about climbing. But there is a lot of “work” that gets done between trips and days out on the rock. Though my “work” is usually fun, this past month has been particularly active. After a trip to Italy, another one to California, the following weekend, I participated in the Cassar Jewelers ClimbFest 2008 event in Ogden, Utah. This event was organized by the prolific ice climber and rock climber, Jeff Lowe. It was fun to see so many old friends and go climbing with the locals, as well as my nephew on the boulders and cliffs above town.

In the evening, we gathered at the community art center where there was a collection of art and photography on display, and where several of us did slide and/or video presentations. The climbers that were invited were: John Bachar, Warren MacDonald, Pat Ament, Pete Takeda, Dick Dorworth, Jennifer Jordan, and Jeff Long.

Now, that I’m home for a bit, I can finally get caught up with the pile of requests on my desk. I usually receive a constant flow of solicitations via email to cooperate with various interviews or articles for publications such as Climbing, Rock and Ice, The Alpinist, Forbes, and Women’s Adventure magazine, and National Geographic Adventure magazine. Other requests include working on various documentary film projects, providing content and photos for a calendar project called, Strong Woman, donating material and video to the Yosemite Exhibit, signing petitions to Protest Darfur at the Olympics and the Chinese abuse of human rights in Tibet, and answering questions for a few different student English projects.

Last week I had the unique opportunity of translating a short presentation for the head of the Rwandan Red Cross (French to English) for a fund raising effort. So far this year, I’ve donated climbing instruction for two fund raisers: one for the Center for Resource Conservation and the other for an alternative High School called the Watershed that offers unique opportunities for outdoor education.

In addition to my own projects such as the climbing technique video, I am in the process of writing an essay for the, Stone Masters book, which is currently being written by John Long.

Working on this technique video is providing the ideal pretext for challenging myself on the rock in new ways. I usually don’t spend so much time bouldering but I’ve found that it is useful for showing complex movement on video and it’s an activity that’s compatible with the time constraints of being a parent. The other day I was very happy to finally make the jump move on a famous boulder problem called, Hollow’s Way. It took me about twelve tries to figure out the subtle tricks to stick this move and finish climbing to the top.

Yesterday I climbed the, Rainbow Wall, a classic, “old school” 5.13 that will be instrumental for the technique video. I look forward to many more fun excursions in the local climbing areas around Boulder. It’s nice to be able to stay close to home in order to minimize the consumption gasoline for a while.

Up-coming trips that I am in the process of organizing are: a trip to Italy and Austria this July to go climbing, visit friends, to get some video footage of climbing on some of the limestone stalactite formations in Arco, and to participate in a Petzl Roctrip event in Zillertal, Austria.

This past month has been filled with lots of travel for the usual mixture of work, play, family visits, and a fun birthday party for my son, Owen, who just turned five-years-old on Monday.

Having recently come back from a trip to Italy where I got a chance to see some good friends in Arco and Trento, and of course, go climbing on some amazing limestone crags, and finally at the end of the trip, I did a multi-media presentation (speaking in Italian) for a cultural event that was organized in conjunction with a museum exhibit in Brescia called, America: The History of Paintings from the New World”. The highlight of the presentation was at the end when my son came up on stage and said with a perfect Italian accent: “Grazie a tutti” (thank you everyone).

A few days after we arrived home, I helped celebrate the opening of a Patagonia store on Pearl Street in Boulder, along with several fellow climbing Ambassadors, associate non-profit organizations, friends, and customers. It’s about time there is a Patagonia store in Boulder! It seems that there really is some kind of collective consciousness that is gaining momentum toward positive change in the world and how we do business! It’s no wonder that the Patagonia store is already a big success!

A few days later, I went to California, where I got a chance to see several more family members (I have seven siblings), including my great nephew, in between a trip to Big Rock and Joshua Tree to film slab climbing on a few classic problems for my up-coming technique video. At the end of this trip, I went to Santa Barbara to attend the wedding of a friend and colleague who works at Patagonia. It was so fun to see so many great people that I’ve known for over twenty-five years, such as Yvon and Malinda Chouinard, Rick and Jennifer Ridgeway, and far too many others to list.

After a brief respite at home, I will be off again tomorrow to participate in the Climb Fest Ogden event in Utah. After this last trip, I will finally have a chance to relax a bit, go climbing, and catch up on all the other projects and constant flow of requests…

Please check out The Cleanest Line over at Patagonia.

I am updating a new blog at Find Your Detour!

I will be writing more over there. Check out some of my posts, like Good to Great and Patience is a virtue. Don’t forget to leave a comment and say hello!

Some topics I talk about in this podcast:

• Mexico!
• Climbing
• Bend Oregon
• SportRock
• Trento Film Festival
• Royal Robbins
• Scalatabel Bell
• Bungie Jumping
• Fun Trips Planned
• Skiing with Owen!

Here is the Podcast for 2/21/07.

Here are some pictures as well!

Here is the Podcast for 2/1/07.

Happy New Year!

The 2007 climbing camp schedule was just announced! Please check out Lynn Hill Climbs for the dates and locations!

This weeks podcast includes a tribute to Hari Berger, Todd Skinner, Charlie Fowler, Christine Boskoff and Jean-Christophe Lafaille. Here is the Podcast for 1/9/07.

Hueco Tanks Women’s weekend was a great success! We had 10 women join us for a weekend of on rope climbing and bouldering. Special guest instructors were Katie Brown and Brittney Griffith (who also doubled as a gourmet chef!). One of the guests was a yoga instructor, so we started the days with a little bit of yoga, and wound down the day with a little bit of dancing. I even did a bit of break dancing! All the guys were ogling at us girls having fun (later they joined in the fun).

Happy holidays everyone! I received an incredibly thought provoking Holiday card that I wanted to share with you:

I myself am convince that there has never been a greater need than there is today for the reporter and interpreter of the natural world. Mankind has gone very for into an artificial world of his own creation. He has sought to insulate himself, in his cities of steel and concrete, from the realities of earth and water and the growing seed. Intoxicated with a sense of his own power, he seems to be going farther and farther into more experiments for the destruction of himself and his world.

There is certainly no single remedy for this condition and I am offering no panacea. But it seems reasonable to believe — that the more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us the less taste we shall have for the destruction of our race. Wonder and humility are wholesome emotions, and they do not exist side by side with lust for destruction.

-Rachel Carson for acceptance speech for the John Borroughs Medal in New Your. April, 1952

Click here for the podcast for 11-30-06..

Here are some pictures of friends from my last trip.

My good friend Todd Skinner passed away on October 23rd.

“The treasures of tomorrow are not marked on yesterday’s maps.” -Todd Skinner

I talk about Todd and more in the Podcast for 10/30/06.

If you are interested in supporting Todd’s family, signed copies of his book “Beyond the Summit” are availible at lwdwyo.com (Update, this site looks down). A thread is open at SuperTopo.