The Man Who Created the Rotpunkt is No Longer With Us
Posted: September 29, 2010 Filed under: Climbing, Outdoor Recreation | Tags: Climbing, History, Kurt Albert, Wolfgang Gullich 1 Comment »
Kurt Albert on Devil's Crack
In 1975 a young German climber named Kurt Albert started painting small red dots at the base of old aid climbs in the Frankenjura to signify that they had been climbed free, without the use of direct aid. Albert, along with a new generation of strong sport climbers pushed the limits of what was possible and the small red dots, or “Rotpunkt” were added to the lexicon of modern sport climbing. Today, climbers all over the world still say that they “Redpointed” a route when they free it after several tries.
Beyond his contribution to modern sport climbing vocabulary, Albert created some of the most difficult climbing routes in the world – some took over a decade to repeat. In addition, Albert and his close friend, Wolfgang Gullich, created the basis for modern climbing training methods, including the campus board.
Check out his full obituary on PlanetMountain.com.
Recovery?
Posted: September 22, 2010 Filed under: News, Outdoor Recreation | Tags: business loans, Credit Crisis Leave a comment »
Moody’s just published a report that suggests the debt market may be recovering. However like all good economic news, this report is tempered with some doubt about whether or not the recovery will maintain its pace. The report details that at the height of the credit crisis in 2009, there were 288 companies with 3B or worse credit ratings. That number has dwindled down to 195 this month.
Even more promising are two underlying stats: 1) There has been a steady decline in the number of new additions to the list and 2) most of the removals from the list have been due to ratings upgrades, not defaults.
This basically means that there are fewer risky loans in play today and fewer companies are likely to default. This should loosen up lending and it should help the outdoor industry fund some growth. Outdoor companies – especially retailers – have been dramatically constrained over the past two years by a sever lack of lending. All of the numbers are pointing to an improvement here, but there are still a lot of variables in play…
It’s Music Season!
Posted: September 20, 2010 Filed under: News, Outdoor Recreation | Tags: bluegrass, bristol, rythm and roots Leave a comment »I spent the weekend at the 10th Annual Rythm and Roots bluegrass festival in Bristol TN/VA. We’ve been going to this event as a family for a few years now- the weather was perfect andcwe had a blast. It’s definatly worth the trip!
Triple Header
Posted: September 16, 2010 Filed under: News, Outdoor Recreation | Tags: Hurricane Season, Hurricanes, Southeast Leave a comment »The nice thing about Hurricane season in the south is the cool, dry weather they create when they hover offshore. The bad part about hurricane season is when they come ashore. It looks like we have three official hurricanes spinning simultaneously in the Atlantic right now. This is the first time this has happened since 1998 when there were actually four simultaneous storms. 
CLT -SLC – DEN – CLT
Posted: September 2, 2010 Filed under: News Leave a comment »
Getting ready for a week on the road – its always bittersweet. Traveling and talking to everyone in the industry is probably one of the things I like most about my job. But at the same time, its always tough to leave the family at home.
This time I’ll hopefully get a little time to play in the mountains. I’ll be right in the middle of the Wasatch in Park City and then I will hopefully get some time in Rocky Mountain National Park. The Altitude should do me some good – its always nice to return home after a week at 5,000+ feet and smoke everyone on my local ride…
