August 27th, 2010 by oxygenjunkie
These gentlemen were too young to participate. Foto by the event's main man, Mattias Fredriksson.
Haven’t see this beautiful mountain biking photos for a while. Thumbs up for the Scandinavian Photo Challenge in Åre!
The concept of the event was this: five teams, five photographers and twenty of the best mountain bikers in the world. (Does maybe not sound alien to the friends on Nissan Outdoor Games: five teams, five…)
It was Mattias Fredriksson, the appreciated Swedish photographer, who got to decide who gets invited. Fredriksson homepage might be worth a visit for the outdoor photography lovers.
Every team got three days to shoot material for a five-minute slideshow. Enjoy the results at the Dirt mag’s website.
One suggestion and one disclaimer: go for full screen! The photos will look so much better. And the disclaimer: there is a super annoying force-fed hair grease ad in the beginning of every slideshow. Argh. What were you thinking, people at Dirt magazine?
(Antti, thanks for sharing the link.)
Tags: åre, dirt magazine, mattias fredriksson, mountain bike, scandinavian photo challenge
Posted in Cycling, Mountainbiking / Freeriding, photography | No Comments »
August 26th, 2010 by oxygenjunkie
Did you see this coming? A sauna on top of Mont Blanc (4810 m), the highest peak of the Alps! Perhaps you did, since there was a group of people who hauled a jacuzzi there a few years ago.
The four Finnish (maybe not extremely surprising) mountaineers climbed Mont Blanc in France, close to Chamonix, a few days ago, reaching the summit in sub-zero conditions. What do you do then? Take a few quick snapshots and rush down? No. You unpack your backpacks and erect a sauna.
(The video below is in Finnish, but you don’t have to master the language to catch the spirit.)
http://www.vimeo.com/14424395
Guys used a wood-fired oven and tent. Oven, called “kiuas” in Finnish, was specially designed to burn wood at altitude. The guys got it working just fine and relaxed in the heat with a magnificent view across the Mont Blanc massif.
Read more about it in English on The Telegraph, in Finnish in Ilta-Sanomat.
The team was Kari Härkönen, Pietari Kauttu, Tuomas Poikela and Sami Vähänen. To their credit they did not choose the easiest way up but followed the Three-Monts-route from Aiguille du Midi.
So, how to summarize? Is this presenting the true pursue of challenge, spirit of mountaineering and harming no-one? Or is it shamefully disrespectful for the mountain?
You tell me.
Tags: Finland, Finnish, Kari Härkönen, mont blanc, Pietari Kauttu, Sami Vähänen, sauna, Tuomas Poikela, Video
Posted in Chamonix, Human interest, People, mountaineering | No Comments »
August 24th, 2010 by oxygenjunkie
Surviving, staying alive even in the most challenging situations, might not be easy… And in some cases also not extremely serious. Ladies and gentleman, Gavin McInnes showing how to do it – with style, that is.
(Yaheweha, thanks for sharing the link to The Adventure Blog.)
Tags: gavin mcinnes, naturist, Survival, the adventure blog, Yaheweha
Posted in People, Survival, Video | No Comments »
August 23rd, 2010 by oxygenjunkie
“New finnish PunkRock snowboard movie Kinos is ready. no slowmotion , no hangaround shit , no talking , just pure snowboarding.Hate it or Love it …Kinos is here to stay”
http://www.vimeo.com/14270175
(Darn. I felt such a huge tempation to edit the film crew’s summary above… but I guess that would not have been very punk, would it.)
Straight forward snowboarding fun! Taking you to Finland, Norway, Japan, France, USA. Featuring world-class riders like Antti Autti, Miikka Hast, Markku Koski, Hampus Mosesson, etc. etc.
Find more snowboarding stuff at Antti’s Word, Antti Autti’s homepage.
Ride on!
Tags: Antti Autti, aspen, Finland, France, Hampus Mosesson, Japan, les arcs, levi, Markku Koski, Miikka Hast, niseko, Norway, pallas, park city, pyhä, ruka, sapporo, Snowboarding, talma, tamok, USA, ylläs
Posted in Snowboarding, Video | No Comments »
August 10th, 2010 by oxygenjunkie
What do you need for a Mt. Blanc expedition? First of all, a towel. (Photo: 14erskiers.com)
Outside Online’s Adventure Adviser’s suggestions for a beginner’s mountain expedition.
1. Mount Baker, USA.
2. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
3. Mount Khuiten, Mongolia
4. Mount Elbrus, Russia
5. Aconcagua, Argentina
Read more about the skills required, cost etc. on Outside.
So, what’s missing on the list? At least the obvious one for us Euros, Mt. Blanc’s (4810 m) normal route from the French side. Also Nepal’s Island Peak (6189 m) would make a good candidate. There are plenty of others, too, so just pick your favourite and go for it!
Tags: aconcagua, elbrus, island peak, kilimanjaro, mount baker, mount khuiten, mt. blanc, outside online
Posted in Himalaya, climbing, mountaineering | 2 Comments »
August 10th, 2010 by oxygenjunkie
Christian Stangl, speciazed on speed ascents. (Photo: skyrunning.at)
EDIT Aug 18th: Christian Stangl summits. K2 Blog:
“It took him 70 hours to climb K2 and return. He said that if climbing was always like this then he would quit because it was so hard.” The whole story here.
An update at www.fredrikericsson.com by David Shipper, August 9th 2010:
“This morning a memorial service was held for Fredrik at the Gilkey Memorial, just below basecamp.
Trey made it back to base camp after a dangerous and challenging descent. Though little has been published of the descent´s difficulties I´m sure Trey´s safe exit from the route came from the efforts of the competent and committed climbers around him. Thank you.
Stu from Field Touring Alpine has kept me up to speed on what is happening around basecamp. It is raining heavily in base camp and looks like it may continue for a while.—”
K2 Blog knows that the season is not yet over for everybody. Christian Stangl, “the skyrunner”, will make another attempt. Read more about it here.
Tags: christian stangl, david schipper, field touring, fredrik ericsson, k2, skyrunner
Posted in Human interest, People, climbing, mountaineering | 2 Comments »
August 9th, 2010 by oxygenjunkie
Falcon guide books firmly believe that female climbers are sexy. A calendar for 2011 hitting the book store near you soon.
All the climbers out there have known it for ages, but now it is official and very scientific: climbing _is_ sexy. Possibly the sexiest sport of them all (if you want to picture climbing as a sport, which is, well, arguable). Read all about it on Steward Green’s blog.
Had you some doubts about the study’s – or Quirkology’s – scientific foundation, have no more:
“Ever wondered how your surname has influenced your life? Or wished that you could tell if someone is lying? Or wanted to understand more about seduction?” Professor Richard Wiseman knows it all.
The question arised by the study was if the female climbers are hot (like the males)? Well, rock climbing might appear quite sexy, but it is the chicks with picks who are the hottest by far. An example by Ines Papert, the one and only, kick ass girl indeed. Watch the evidence here.
Tags: climbing, falcon guides, ice climbing, ines papert, quirkology, richard wiseman, rock climbing, sexiness, sexy, steward green, study, Video
Posted in Chamonix, People, Video, climbing, iceclimbing, rock climbing | 2 Comments »
August 9th, 2010 by oxygenjunkie
Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner on Ceusen route, K2. (Photo: diepresse.com)
Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, probably the strongest female high-altitude female, is on her way home from K2. Can’t blame the Austrian, a tedious expedition it was.
K2 Blog:
“After the recent events on K2 Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner is calling it quits and heading back to Germany. Austrian newspapers are reporting that she will not try again this year. This will be the third year that she has been to K2 and not made the summit.”
“She found it hard to sleep initially after coming back. The images of (Fredrik) Ericsson falling kept playing on through her mind. But she was so tired in the end that she fell asleep.”
Find the English summary on K2 Blog. The original source, Austrian newspaper Kurier’s article, can be found here.
Kaltenbrunner, 39, climbed in 2003 for the first time above 8000 meters reaching the fore-summit of Broadpeak. She started rock climbing at age of 13. More info on her homepage.
Wishing Kaltenbrunner a quick recovery. Hoping to see her completing the grand quest soon. Perhaps better luck next year?
Tags: austria, austrian, broad peak, climbing, fredrik ericsson, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, k2, k2 blog, kurier, mountaineering
Posted in People, climbing, mountaineering, rock climbing | 2 Comments »
August 8th, 2010 by oxygenjunkie
Reel Rock Tour turns five this year and celebrates it with a filmmaking competition.
Reel Rock Tour’s filmmaking competition candidates are online. Find your own favourite among the short amateur climbing films here and vote!
The contest ends on September 10th. Winners will be announced at the 2010 tour’s premier in Boulder, USA. The winning films will screen in over 100 locations across the world.
More info on Reel Rock Tour, touting “the largest climbing event in the world”, soon on this blog.
Tags: filmmaking competition, reel rock tour, rock climbing, Video
Posted in Fimmaking, Video, climbing, mountain culture | No Comments »
OxygenJunkie is a blog by the freelance journalist & outdoors lover Artturi Kröger.
