New Trad Climbing Gear - Helium Friends Wild Country

It's been a while since I have been trad climbing, but one of my best feats in trad climbing was topping the famous Oceano Irrationale in Val di Mello, Italy. Never have been in such a demanding route (for me that is :)) and enjoying the crag climbing at the same time.

The older cams of Wild Country have been my 'friends' for a long time since but the newest ones seem to be mor flexible in material as well as in range:

HELIUM FRIEND ESSENTIALS Up to 6% lighter per unit.
Up to 20% more range per cam. Bigger overlaps with adjacent cams. Bigger overlaps with alternate cams. Longer reach and deeper placements. Smoother triggering. Nine cams will be available.

HELIUM FRIEND NEW FEATURESNew:
Hot Forged Cam Head, Thumb Loop Trigger,m Moulded Thumb GripSprings, Trigger Stop, Stem Cover, Size Label, Low Profile Riveting, 12mm Dyneema Sling, Short Termination

(source: planetfear.com)

People Planet Profit - Dance Valley Spaarnwoude Climbing Structure

A Dutch magazine in which the three P's are the main topic. BUT, with the outdoor climbing wall Spaarwoude on one of their covers (during the Dance Valley event), even rock climbing might get a greener immage :))

(source: peopleplanetprofit.be)

Top Ten Most Nutritious Vegetables and How to Grow Them in Your Backyard

This is something I have been thinking about for a long time. Why should we buy food which has travelled around the globe befor we're able to eat it. I search the web from time to time to see what others do and how they cope with it. This is what I found lately:

A perfectly ripe, juicy tomato, still warm from the sun. Sweet carrots, pulled from the garden minutes (or even seconds!) before they're eaten. Growing your own vegetables is one of those activities that balances practicality and indulgence. In addition to the convenience of having the fixings for a salad or light supper right outside your door (or on your windowsill), when you grow your own vegetables, you're getting the most nutritional bang for your buck as well. Vegetables start losing nutrients as soon as they're harvested, and quality diminishes as sugars are turned into starches. For the tastiest veggies with the best nutrition, try growing a few of these nutrient-dense foods in your own garden. And don't let the lack of a yard stop you - all of them can be grown in containers as well.

The top10 list is:

- Broccoli

- Peas

- Beans

- Tomatoes

- Red Peppers

- Carrots

- Beets

- Leafy Greens

- Leaf Amaranth

(Source: Treehugger.com)

New Rock Climbing Guide Mallorca 2011

"This book is not yet available", the website says but in the meantime everyone anticipates it being published in the week beginning 7 March.

The Mediterranean island of Mallorca is now well-known as a sport climbing destination. Since the last Rockfax in 2006, it has also established itself as the home of Europe's best deep water soloing (Check Kingline by Chris Sharma)

It is said that the Mallorca Rockfax brings together all the sport and DWS into one book. The sport section includes seven crags that haven't appeared in the previous books plus many new routes and sectors at the existing crags, and the DWS section combines the work from the Rockfax book Deep Water, and the Rockfax PDF MiniGuide Mallorca Deep Water Soloing

It looks like a big fun place to be and explore the climbing possibilities. Combine this with the mostly superb weather and it's a sure-to-go-location.

(for more details check: Rockfax.com)