SportsGeezer

High Altitude Climbing Takes Toll in Brain Cells

The Scientific American begins its story about the high cost, in brain cells, of high altitude mountain climbing with this quote from a mountaineering chat room: "Three attributes of a good mountaineer are a high pain threshold, a bad memory, ....and I forget the third."  It's a good joke, but it become less funny as the piece cites recent research using MRI scans on 35 climbers (12 professionals and 23 amateurs) who had returned from high-altitude expeditions, including 13 who had attempted Everest. Sciam reports that researchers found brain damage in virtually every Everest climber, and in many climbers of lesser peaks who returned unaware that they had injured their brain. Climbers who want to continue climbing should not concerned: They will soon forget the disturbing findings. Others can read more in the Scientific American.

The Great Outdoors Gets Old

For many Americans, the great outdoors appears to have been replaced by the technology-rich indoors.
The Scientific American reports that Americans have been visiting national parks and other natural reserves less and less since 1987, and that the popularity of outdoor activities like camping and hunting is on the wane. Sciam cites a study who results were recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, showing that, with the exception of a slight increase in backpacking, outdoor pursuits peaked between 1981 and 1991 after 50 years of steady increase and have been declining at roughly 1 percent per year since for an overall drop of as much as 25 percent.
Read more in the Scientific American.

Final (and Most Expensive) Gift Guide for 2007

If you want to know how many shopping days are left until Christmas, ask a ten-year-old, or a shopkeeper, or a ten-year-old shopkeeper. Geezer knows only that there are very few, and so he promises that this will be the last link to great ideas for holiday gifts. This final list is also, however, the longest and most pricey of this year's lists. Here you go: Outside Magazine's 08 Buyer's Guide to Winter. Knock yourself out, quickly.

Older Climbers More Likely to Die on Everest

Forbes online has some bad news for climbers who have been waiting for decades for a shot at Mt. Everest.
Sixty may be the new 40, the magazine reports, but when it comes to scaling the world's mightiest peak, it's a few years too late. Forbes directs our attention to a study of more than 2,200 people who tried to climb 29,030-ft. Mount Everest during the spring seasons from 1990 through 2005. The research, conducted by a University of Washington biologist, found that  the overall chance of reaching the summit was 31 percent but only 13 percent for climbers in their 60s. The overall risk of dying on the world's tallest mountain was 1.5 percent but five percent for climbers 60 and older. Among climbers who made it to the summit, 25 percent of those age 60 and older died before they completed their descent compared with 2.2 percent of young climbers.
Read more in Forbes online.

How to Beat Mosquitoes in the Great Outdoors

Most of the tips offered by SierraPackTrip.com won't help you outsmart the mosquitoes at the basketball hoops down the street. These six pieces of advice are aimed at serious backpackers, who do battle with equally serious mosquitoes. Here are three:
1. Wear light-colored protective clothing.
2. Avoid scented soaps and deodorants.
3. Talk to locals and where the bugs aren't.
For three more tips, visit SierraPackTrip.com.

Speed Hiking: Taking the Zen Out of the Outdoors

It's hard to figure the cardio to zen ratio of the latest outdoor obsession: hiking up mountains as fast as you can, but Geezer puts it at three to one. The goal, after all, as the New York Times describes it, is how fast can you get up and down. The good news is the "sport" combines the muscle-building benefits of altitude gain with fast-paced aerobic activity, which keeps heart rates high.  Or is that the bad news? Geezer leaves it up to his gentle readers. In the mean time, the Times reports, the first speed-hiking race will to be held on August 11 at Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vermont. The roughly 16-mile Herc Open has a purse of $25,000.

How to Ski 14ers

If he weren't the two-time extreme skiing world champion, Chris Davenport would have to be crazy. OK, even though he is the two-time extreme skiing world champion, Chris Davenport still has to be crazy to do what he did on his winter vacations. As the New York Times reports, Davenport climbed and skied off the top of each of Colorado’s 54 14,000 foot high mountains, in one year. He finished with three days to spare.
What's it like up there? Davenport described his experience atop the 14ers as “surreal and spiritual."
“It’s hard to explain to people who haven’t stood on top of a summit," he said. "It’s a powerful experience."
Find out just how crazy, or wise, Davenport is in the New York Times.

Six Ways to Winterize Your Hands

Winter is hard on lots of body parts, but the two parts that suffer most from cold may be your hands. In this useful review, Men's Journal looks at six salves and lotions that can literally save you some skin. Worth the read.

Via Ferrrata: Climbing with Cables and Ladders

It was developed during World War I to move troops quickly through the Dolomites in Northern Italy. Today, the New York Times tells us, via ferrata --climbing rock faces with the aid of ladders, bridges, stair steps, bolts and strands of cable---is "immensely popular" in the Alps, where hundreds of routes are in place. The news, according to the Times, is that via ferrata has made its way to the the U.S., despite laws that prohibit the installation of permanent climbing anchors. This piece takes close look at the via ferrata thrills available at Waterfall Canyon Climbing Park in Ogden, Utah, which has three precipitous climbs found in a deep quartzite canyon. The Times also mentions other North American via ferrata climbs at the Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort in British Columbia, the Nelson Rocks Preserve near Seneca Rocks, W. Va, and the Torrent Falls Resort in the Daniel Boone National Forest of eastern Kentucky. Read more about via ferrata here.

50 Things To Do Before You Die

Geezer has to admit that Outside magazine's recent piece described in the lede as "50 things to do before you die" was probably a lot easier to assign to freelancers than a piece on "50 things to do after you're dead," would have been, but the package is so all-over-the-map that it could have been called "50 things to do that almost nothing in  common." So why does Geezer mention the package? Because several of these babies are very cool indeed, Geezer recommends the more substantial pieces, such as Ed Viesturs' advice on how to Climb an 8,000 Meter Peak  (methodically), how to Kayak the Grand Canyon (slowly), and how to Bike the Tour Route (when there is no tour in progress). Definitely worth a read before you die.