This unusual past time is fast becoming a popular sport and more people are doing some sort of climbing every weekend. It is a very healthy sport to take up and will take a degree of skill for you to be able to scale up the different trees. Even children are taking to this adventurous new sport and loving every minute of it. Before you start, you will need to find the right tree climbing equipment to ensure that you are secure and safe on the trees. If you buy the correct safety equipment then you will find the climbing easier and fun to do.

Safety is very important when climbing up trees and you should understand the basics and what safety equipment you will need. You should ensure that you write a list of all the equipment for climbing trees that you will need and then go to a proper sports shop to purchase them. Helmets are one of the vital pieces of equipment as this will protect your head if you were to fall. Your helmet should fit very well and not be too tight so you should try several different ones on until you find the perfect one for your head. They should have an under the chin strap to hold it into place and ensure that it doesn’t move when you shake your head.

Ropes are the next important piece of climbing equipment and you should ensure that you have both of the designs you will need. There are two main types of ropes, these are stretchable and the static rope. Static ropes are used for anchoring and should be strong enough to hold your weight when tree climbing. You need to consider the length of rope that you will need which will depend on the size of the tree you aim to climb. If you are in any doubt of the ropes you will need you should ask for professional help.

You will also need harnesses which are a very important piece of climbing equipment. You can choose one that you wear around your waist or the fuller one that you wear on your chest. If you want, you can in fact wear both of them but you need to ensure that they fit correctly and they aren’t too tight. Spikes are also very handy when climbing trees as they will help you to grip the tree and not slip back down. Once you have all the right equipment for tree climbing then you can spend hours having fun and adventure exploring the trees.

The loop trail takes 1.3 miles which circles the top of Fort Mountain where a panoramic view of the area marks the focal point of this magnificent habitat. The top of the mountain is where a fire tower is also situated aside from a great wall that runs more than 800 feet on it. The wall varies in height from approximately two to six feet high. A mystery still exist on who really built this wall and experts agreed that the construction of this wall could have taken place around 500 A.D. On the other hand, the fire tower is another feature on this loop trail that allows rangers to spot wildfires up to a distance of 40 miles. The trail was built on a land that was donated by former Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen and was completed by the Civilian Conservation Corp in the late 1930’s.

Starting from the parking lot, take the footpath to the northwest and trek it counter-clockwise.

The trail is a gradual climb as it approaches a spectacular panorama where you will see the Cohuttas and the Ridge and Valley area of the northwest section of Georgia. The loop trail is marked with yellow rectangular trail blazes.

The footpath hugs the mountainside and just about .4 miles along the path; a red blazed trail is spotted on the left which is a shortcut to the fire tower at the highest point of the Fort Mountain. However, take the more scenic trail at the North Face Loop by following the yellow-blazed trail straight to the rocky pathway. Expect a series of steep drops until it approaches an ascent to a set of rock stairs which had been fixed a couple of times.

Go straight ahead as you circle around the scenic viewing point where you will find an intersection of three trails at the right.

Go forward taking the trail to the right where the path rapidly ascends to another set of stairs. The trek then takes an easy route as it approaches a wooden lookout that stretches past a cluster of trees on the mountain. At this point, the viewing deck gives you a vantage point for 2,000 feet view of Chatsworth.

From this overlook, pace further to the fire tower at the peak of Fort Mountain. Access to the fire tower is possible where you will have the best view of the mountain trail. On your return back, follow the blue-blazed trail towards the wall where you can check out the crevices on it. Move past this and the path then leads you back to the steps to the parking lot.

The night is cool and crisp and we are boarding our train from Hanoi, Vietnam to the northern mountain town of Sapa. Our train is a modern overnight sleeper; clean, comfortable, and sparkling white. The rest of the station is like stepping back in time. Ancient boxcars darkened by time, are parked in the yard, and steam is rising in the air. People donning conical hats are huddled around open fires. Some squat on small plastic stools eating noodle soup with chopsticks. As I look out the window I feel as though it is 1969.

We are led to our bunks by a petite and quiet women from ODC Travel. The company based in Hanoi where we booked our four-day, three-night excursion. For each, all meals accommodation and transportation are included in our trip to see the magnificent rice terraces and to experience the traditional lives of the hill tribes of Sapa.

It is not long until I am peacefully sleeping.

Rocking with the rhythm of the train I dream of the adventure ahead. 4:30 am arrives quickly however and I awake famished and thankful for the complimentary sweet bread and bottled water.

We have arrived in Lao Cao, a small town on the Chinese border. As I step onto the platform a brisk, cold wind awakens my senses. Luckily, a van is waiting to take us the rest of the way, so we don’t have to wait in the morning chill for long. It is a harrowing journey up the winding mountain road. We put our lives in the hands of our speeding driver who dodges herds of water buffalo, oncoming traffic and local villagers herding their oxen. Whizzing around each corner, we are thankful to not have plunged off of a vertical cliff into the deep valley below.

We arrive a little shaken but all in one piece to our hotel where we meet our guide, Xin.

He is a friendly young man who grew up in the area and as we will soon learn, enjoys singing and playing the guitar. We will be spending the next two days with him as he takes us through the mountains to visit the Hmong and Dzai People who live among the rice terraces.

The scenery is magnificent and as we venture farther from the town, my breath is taken away by the incredible view unfolding. Thousands of rice terraces filled with water glisten in the sun for as far as the eye can see. Every turn becomes more overwhelming and I am struck with awe by the giant terraced mountains surrounding me.

Barking dogs guard their territory as we pass and gaggles of ducks waddle by following their leader with frenzied dedication. Villagers from the Hmong Tribe speed past us carrying heavy loads in their woven baskets. They walk with ease as I gasp for air climbing the steep path. As we continue to hike, Xin tell us about the people and the history of the land and how it has changed.

The Hmong village we are visiting has come to depend on tourism and he tells us not to feel pressured to give money or to buy jewelry to the people who will be approaching us. Not wanting to contribute to a begging society, I chose not to give children the “bonbons” that they have come to expect or to give money for nothing. Instead, I gladly buy some silver bracelets from a lady who invites us into her home for a glimpse of tribal life.

We make our way to the top of a mountain, where Xin puts out a picnic lunch and we dine among a herd of water buffalo. As we look into the deep valley, children stop by for a visit and we share some cookies and fruit. It is a place of overwhelming beauty.

The contentment is short lived however, because we have a lot of ground to cover to make it to the village of the Dzai people where we will be spending the night. Being farther away from Sapa and not a part of the usual one-day tours, this tribe is less corrupted by the tourism industry. They are completely self-sufficient at harnessing water from mountain runoff for irrigation. They grow their own rice, sugar cane peanuts and vegetables. Every child attends school, they raise their own livestock, and weave and dye their own fabric for clothing. This is truly a people who are at one with the land.

We stay with a family that has four generations living under one roof. Their house, built by the hands of villagers using traditional methods is gigantic and surprisingly cozy in the brisk mountain air. It takes one year to build a home and everybody pitches in. We are treated to a feast after we settle in and enjoy their friendly hospitality. The 94-year-old grandfather keeps my plate full, urging me to eat more and we stuff ourselves until we cannot move.

Later that evening we walk to visit other houses and the celebrations continue. Rice wine is flowing as we sit around the fire in their kitchens singing songs. The local people are eager to hear songs from our country and there is no getting out of belting out a tune. They applaud with enthusiasm and then Xin treats us to a traditional Vietnamese folk song before heading back to bed.

It is a cool night, but we sleep well under a thick warm blanket and awake a little groggy from the abundance of alcohol the night before. Saying goodbye to our hosts after a breakfast of fried eggs and a warm baguette, we slowly walk to the mountains feeling the burn in our legs from the day before. We trek to the high waterfall overlooking the valley, walk through a bamboo forest, and once again witness the beauty of gigantic rice terraces.

A jeep picks us up at the end of our trek to take us back to Sapa where we sleep comfortably that evening in our small hotel. Our last day is spent exploring this beautiful town. We hike up Ham Rong Mountain to see its many gardens and stone forest, shop for fresh fruit in the market and relax on a terrace overlooking the mountains. The people are friendly and as usual, the scenery is magnificent.

Northern Vietnam is a fascinating experience. It is rich in culture and history and diverse in landscape. If you do it right and stay in a Home Stay far away from the village, it will be an experience that you will remember forever.

Breakfast can be granola, toast, fruit, eggs, and sometimes pancakes or French toast. During lunch time, you can have pasta or rice with fish or chicken as you climb up the mountain.

Lunches are normally taken as you are on the trail, either up or down the mountain. Fresh and hot vegetable soups are served after every meal though packed soup, tea or coffee can be made available on request. Make sure to do the climb with expert mountaineers as they will ensure that you will have the best foods for your summit. These companies normally have expert cooks who prepare all the meals for the you.

You should be fit for any trek or mountain climb.

A doctor’s through check up and go ahead is necessary for any summit. You should also be able to know to what limits your body can go to. Another thing is that you should keep fit, exercise regular and eat well a few months before the planned mount climb. You can also choose to take routes that are not very difficult. You must also be over sixteen years old in order to take this trip.

Web designing is more than just mere creation of an attractive design layout and managing content. The art of web designing demands strength, control and finesse just like Rock-Climbing;

STRENGTH – To understand the business needs of the customer

CONTROL – To exceptionally control the business processes in order to get the right information to the right audience at the right time

FINESSE – To device expert strategies that distinguishes your website and makes it stand out from the rest

In contrast to the top-down approach of website designing we recommend using the bottom-up approach as in Rock Climbing. The goal is to climb a rock using 5-Step process until we reach The Cliff  – where we could stand out from the rest of the competition!

 STEP 1 – BUSINESS ANALYSIS

When designing a website, the first step is to explore and understand your audiences, their needs and expectations and then determine the best approach for maximizing your audience lifetime value.

It’s important to gather the client’s requirements and develop a requirement specification. The requirement specification is refined through a series of review process with the client until all requirements are identified and understood.

STEP 2 – FORMULATION OF WEB STRATEGY

It’s not just enough if the requirements are well understood. Perhaps, the most crucial step in the website designing process is formulating strategy for your website. Unfortunately many web enterprises don’t invest time and effort in formulating the right strategy for the customer’s business thereby creating websites that don’t truly support underlying business objectives of the clients. Without strategizing your business ideas based on the market trends, you would end up having a website which is less than effective and could lead to total disaster.

STEPS 3 – CUSTOM WEB DESIGN/WEB RE-DESIGN

Custom web designing is not just a mere step which involves creating an attractive design or a design that is just good enough for the business needs of the customer. Anything that’s good enough is not enough! The website should be centered on innovative customer experience that ensures easy navigation, attracts the right audience and generates ROI

STEP 4 – CONTENT DEVELOPMENT

Content Development is an art. Unlike most other web companies that merely manage information, one should identify what the audience like and determine the appropriate quantity, quality, relevance and clarity that make your content inspiring to them.

We shouldn’t be writing content; instead, we craft content!

STEP 5 – VERIFYING THE UNIFIED SOLUTION

It is important to verify your website as a unified solution to your business needs. The websites being developed needs to be tested by a team of experts who validate the website for the different parameters including Page Layout, Browser compatibility, Navigation, Color & Graphics, Multimedia, Content Presentation, Functionality, Accessibility and W3C HTML Compliance.

For E-Commerce and web applications, we should focus on reliability and security testing in addition to the above mentioned parameters to ensure a complete unified solution.

STANDING OUT FROM THE REST

Having a website is not good enough! How do you distinguish yourself on the Internet from most other enterprises within your industrial sector? How findable are you on the Internet? How does it fulfill your business objectives by having the most sophisticated website yet not being easily findable by the most popular search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN?

What’s more important than just having a website is standing out from the rest! At The Cliff, you stand out from the rest of our competition!

This unusual past time is fast becoming a popular sport and more people are doing some sort of climbing every weekend. It is a very healthy sport to take up and will take a degree of skill for you to be able to scale up the different trees. Even children are taking to this adventurous new sport and loving every minute of it. Before you start, you will need to find the right tree climbing equipment to ensure that you are secure and safe on the trees. If you buy the correct safety equipment then you will find the climbing easier and fun to do.

Safety is very important when climbing up trees and you should understand the basics and what safety equipment you will need. You should ensure that you write a list of all the equipment for climbing trees that you will need and then go to a proper sports shop to purchase them. Helmets are one of the vital pieces of equipment as this will protect your head if you were to fall. Your helmet should fit very well and not be too tight so you should try several different ones on until you find the perfect one for your head. They should have an under the chin strap to hold it into place and ensure that it doesn’t move when you shake your head.

Ropes are the next important piece of climbing equipment and you should ensure that you have both of the designs you will need. There are two main types of ropes, these are stretchable and the static rope. Static ropes are used for anchoring and should be strong enough to hold your weight when tree climbing. You need to consider the length of rope that you will need which will depend on the size of the tree you aim to climb. If you are in any doubt of the ropes you will need you should ask for professional help.

You will also need harnesses which are a very important piece of climbing equipment. You can choose one that you wear around your waist or the fuller one that you wear on your chest. If you want, you can in fact wear both of them but you need to ensure that they fit correctly and they aren’t too tight. Spikes are also very handy when climbing trees as they will help you to grip the tree and not slip back down. Once you have all the right equipment for tree climbing then you can spend hours having fun and adventure exploring the trees.

For most rock climbers (including me!) the notion of falling off fills us with dread. I was brought up on the maxim, “The leader never falls.” In my first five years of climbing, in the 1960s, I fell off four times, twice from 12 meters. All four climbs were (then) protectionless. All four times, I hit the ground.

Thankfully, for most rock climbs and climbers, those days are long gone. Now we have an almost bewildering variety of protection devices designed to stop us coming to harm if we fall off climbs. And yet, for many of us, I suspect, the dread of falling off is well-nigh as great as it ever was. A million years of brain-programming is not going to disappear in a few decades!

In rock-climbing, if you climb within your limits, you will succeed 100% of the time. It’s very easy to go on succeeding 100% of the time. But, if you want to improve, you must lay yourself open to occasional (or not so occasional) failure.

In rock climbing, failure on lead means either grabbing a piece of gear – or falling. If you grab a piece of gear then, did you really need it? Hard to tell. Whereas, if you carry on until you fall, well then, at least you know.

Top rock climbers such as Chris Sharma and Dave McLeod probably fall off most days they go climbing. They manage the risks to an amazing degree. The rest of us have to be more careful. The best way to get over fear of failure in climbing is to accept the probability of falling. The best way to accept the probability of falling is to practice it as a skill. We just have to break through that old, once valid maxim, “The leader never falls.” But we have to do so in conditions of well-nigh perfect safety.

Probably the safest place to practice falling from roped climbs is a well bolted climbing wall, or climbing gym as they tend to be called in America.

Always ask the management: at the very least, it’s good manners. Some management’s will be fine; some won’t. Abide by their decision, even if you don’t agree with it.

With a deliberate fall, always make sure that you cannot hit another climber on an adjacent route. Always make sure that you cannot hit the ground. Always make sure that you cannot hit a projection. Always make sure that your belayer is competent and knows exactly when you’re going to take a deliberate fall. Check. Double check. And, if need be, treble check.

Start with very small falls, ideally with just sagging on the rope. Work up to a meter fall, two meters, three meters. Always keep checking that it’s safe. When you’ve got used to falling, then take your new found skill onto well protected routes, ideally indoors, where you might fail. Get used to climbing to your limit and ‘relaxing’ into the fall. I know, I know… it takes a while.

Safety, safety, safety. Never take falling likely. Practised carefully, it is little more dangerous than (safe) abseiling. But always expect the unexpected. Take great care not to let your foot get caught in the rope – where you could invert. If you feel wearing a helmet is warranted, then wear one, whether you like the idea or not.

When I practice falling, I get used to deliberate falls. Then, when I stop taking them, I get unused to them all over again. So taking them is probably something we need to practice on a regular basis. One Australian climber I heard of used to take a deliberate fall on a suitable warm-up route every single day. That way, he had no fear of falling, because he knew he was going to do it every single day. Radical stuff! But, for him, it worked.

Practicing falling on a regular basis can remove the in-built fear of falling and the consequent fear of failure. Practice it – but safely. Always be safe.

Once bouldering (climbing just a few meters above the ground) was rock climbing’s greatest secret, known to the few and practiced only by the elite. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the visionary John Gill took rock climbing standards from V2 to V9 – or even harder. When E2 was cutting edge for rock-climbers in the UK and 5.10 was emerging in the US, Gill was pulling moves that would not have been out of place on rock climbs of E10 and 5.14. Gill was farther ahead of his time than anyone I can think of in any discipline.

If you want to improve your rock climbing, chances are you will need better technique and more power. Bouldering can be used to improve both. Notice that I mentioned technique first, then power. If you get power first, then it’s highly likely that your technique will remain shoddy at worst, indifferent at best. Please – get technique first.

Think of bouldering as rock climbing’s ‘laboratory’, where you play around in well-nigh perfect safety.

And make sure it is safe. If outside, use a mat and spotters, if necessary. If inside, make sure the mats are thick and that you will land on one if you come off. Never boulder in an unsafe environment!

In bouldering, rock climbing’s ‘laboratory’ you are free to push the limits of your physical ability. You don’t have to worry about the protection or whether you’re going to ‘top out’. All you have to think about is ‘the move’. All you have to do is execute the move -or a series of moves.

So – did you do the move or not? If not, what could you have done differently? If yes, could you have done it differently – and better? What if you pivoted here… heel-hooked there? At your limit, the slightest difference in body position can mean the difference between impossible and relative ease of ascent.

(At your limit) one to six moves will give you power.

(At your limit) six to twelve moves will give you power-endurance. (At your limit) more than twelve moves will give you endurance. Obviously most bouldering is one to six moves. But experiment with longer sequences. And always remember Wolfgang Gullich’s immortal dictum, “Without power, there is no power endurance!”

Bouldering can be low-ball (roughly up to six moves, three meters) or high-ball, (above this). You can boulder parts of traverses or the entirety of long traverses. You can even boulder sections of project routes. But, however you practice it, bouldering is your laboratory, your ‘realm of the possible’. Lessons – and power – taken from bouldering will enhance your climbing ‘game’, whatever that is. You may be the most diehard trad climber imaginable. Bouldering will enable you to crush ‘stopper’ moves. John Gill was 20 years ahead of his time. Fortunately we don’t have to re-discover what he learned – bouldering works!

In rock climbing, as in many other areas of human activity, if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve got. That usually means doing the same old climbs or operating at the same rock climbing grades. And, if that’s what you want, then that’s absolutely fine.

But, if you want to rock climb better – or harder – then you’re going to have to do something differently. That means stepping out of your comfort zone. And, that can be a little daunting. Comfort zones are, well, comfortable. It’s easy to stay in them.Yet, if you’re going to climb differently, something’s got to give.

You might be proficient at trad rock climbing at E2/5.10. How are you going to make the transition to climbing E3/5.11? There are lots of ways but probably they’re ones you haven’t tried. You could just try some E3 and 5.11 climbs (well protected ones, please) and see what happens.

Or you could put a top-rope down some E3s or 5.11s and see what they’re like. Or you could second some and see what they’re like. Or you could get on some F6cs (5.11b) and harder at a climbing wall and see how you could get on. Or you could practise your footwork, develop technique and gain power to do much harder moves. Or you could use meditation and visualisation to keep your mind focussed on much harder climbs.

The point is this: you’re going to have to do something different. It may be slightly different or it may be radically different. It may be one thing or it may be a bundle of things. For instance, if you’re a trad climber who is better on walls than cracks but loves hard, well-protected routes, then learning to climb eminently protectable cracks may be a useful tactic.

But whatever you do, it’s going to have to be something different. And you’re going to have to practise it in conditions of relative safety. You wouldn’t learn to shoot with live ammunition, would you?

Stepping out of your comfort zone in search of something better doesn’t just apply to rock climbing. It works, in all of your life. But please – always go carefully.

Getting involved in rock climbing can be extremely exciting. You are just about to embark on a new adventure with an all new outlook and hobby. Times are looking good out there, but the daunting task is definitely in getting your equipment and in finding the money to do so. Here are a few tips that will help you select some rock climbing shoes that will be fit to you and your style, to reduce a bit of a headache that can be avoided if you do your homework before you purchase the wrong shoes.

Rock climbing shoes are all about fit. It is tricky trying to figure out if they are too small when they are supposed to be snug. However, there is a difference. Shoes do stretch but more in the width than they will the length, so be mindful of that. It is very important to take a look at your big toe and see where it is at. Feel for the edge of the shoe and make sure there is no space between your toe and the end of the shoe, but if it is squished feeling do not buy them.

They are too small, so go a size up.

Another important thing to look into is the brand. You can get used shoes for a great price if they are a good brand, but you should not go skimpy on quality. Your rock climbing shoes will last you longer and will perform better for you if you just do a little looking around to find the best deal for the best brand out there.