Hardwear Sessions

Poison Oak productions describes The Way Bobby Sees it as "a gripping documentary about Bobby McMullen, a competitive mountain biker on a mission to race the most demanding downhill course in the country. Adding to the difficulty: Bobby is blind.

With the help of a guide and a rigorous training schedule, Bobby is determined to race his bike down a course riddled with obstacles and flanked by steep, life-threatening cliffs. But, the racecourse isn't the only challenge in Bobby's life. Between thrills, spills and jaw dropping helmet camera footage, we see how Bobby uses humor, determination, and unshakeable optimism to battle adversity - both on and off the bike."

Come out and support Bobby at the film's 5 Bay Area screenings. Bobby will be at the screenings.

San Francisco - Tuesday, 12/02 - Sundance Kabuki Theater - 7:30pm
Livermore - Thursday, 12/04 - Cinema West Theater - 7:30pm
Santa Rosa - Tuesday, 12/09 - Rialto Cinema - 7:30pm
Oakland - Wednesday, 12/10 - Grand Lake Theatre - 7:30pm
Larkspur - Thursday, 12/11 - Lark Theater - 8:00pm

By Will Meinen

Brandon on the Mad House

The Mad House: WI 4+ 300M -- View More Photos from Will's route on Flickr

He had gone up about three years prior, and spotted a gem that needed to be climbed. He snapped a photo, and tried to entice friends to return to climb the route. Nobody took the bait, until me. Call me a lucky bastard, or just call me up for anything cause I'll never say no.

By Jon Bowermaster

Hello from - Antarctica! I'm back for nearly two months and as always when it comes to the seventh continent, every day is guaranteed to be completely new and different. I've already spent several days along the towering glaciers that line the Peninsula, crossed channels filled with just-breaking-up pack ice and spied a first tiny penguin chick (the majority will be born over the next couple weeks).

Antarctic Ice

We've also already endured a day of monstrous winds - hurricane-force, gusting to over 100 miles per hour and the news that a nearby tourist boat had run aground. I'll be reporting on that and more every day these next several weeks, from this most beautiful of landscapes.

Click Here to Travel Along -- Read Jon's Antarctica blog

"It doesn't get easier; you just go faster" - Greg Lemond

Ego
As climbed up the fire road pre-riding the 9 mile loop race course of 12 hours of Temecula, I reflected on a long season of endurance Mountain bike racing. 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo, Boggs 8 hour, Cool 24 Hour Race against Cancer, Grasshopper @ Lake Sonoma, 12 hours of Weaverville... I figured I about seen it all... Wrong!

Course
The fire road climb was unrelenting with pitches approaching 20% with loose sandy rutty sections with baby head rocks strewn about generously. Rocky drop offs led to switch back descents, mixed with inches of dust and sand covering loose rocks. Every lap had about 4 hair razing loose rutty chutes covered with sand. Either you let go of the brakes and hoped everything worked out or you got off your bike and did the walk of shame. I opted for the former.

Race
So at 9am 130 solos and other racers made a parade loop through the camp ground and began was to be a very long hot day. Super steep exposed fire road climbs in 96F, with loose technical single track descent. I stayed with the big dogs from the factory pro teams for the first 2 laps then started to cramp a bit so I took it back a notch to pace myself for the full 12 hours. After about 6 hours of racing other solos started asking me what lap I was on. After 8 hours they were asking me how many laps I planned to do. I told one racer, "I don't know man, I just pedal till someone says I can stop. The cumulative affect of the hot weather, steep climbs and nerve racking descents, felt like it was taking years off my life.

By Freddie Wilkinson

One month ago, I wrote "Heros in Fine-print", which highlighted the actions of two Sherpas who were involved in rescuing several survivors of the K2 tragedy. In subsequent interviews with them, some new information has come to light that should be reported as part of the ongoing effort to find out precisely what happened. The information concerns a radio transmission that occurred on August 2nd between Pemba Gyalje and the rescue party of Pasang Bhote and Tsering Bhote. It occurred sometime after 3 PM, just after Pemba had found Marco Confortola lying passed out on a pile of fresh avalanche debris at roughly 8,000 meters.

As Pemba was reviving Confortola with bottled oxygen, he received a radio call from Pasang Bhote and Tsering Bhote, who reported that they had rendezvoused with Jumic Bhote and two of the Koreans (most likely Hwang Dong-Jin and Park Kyeong-Hyo) at the top of the Bottleneck. They said that aside from some frostbite, Jumic Bhote was basically alright, and that everyone was coming down. Pemba told them to hurry down, as the serac was very unstable.

The rescue team went on to say that they had witnessed a climber in a red suit with patches fall from the middle of the Traverse, the section of the route which connects the top of the Bottleneck couloir to the summit slopes. It was unclear whether the man fell, or was swept off by an avalanche, but he evidently was 15 - 30 minutes behind Jumic Bhote and the two Koreans. Moments after this radio communication, Pemba heard a large avalanche and witnessed the bodies of two Sherpas and two Koreans tumble by him.

I learned months ago in email correspondence with Pemba that the rescue team had succeeded in reaching Jumic Bhote and two of the Koreans. But it wasn't until I met with him in Kathmandu and we had the chance to speak extensively about K2 that I heard about the man in the red suit behind Jumic and the Koreans. Though both Gerard McDonnell and Pakistani guide Karim Meherban both wore red suits, only McDonnell's had patches on the front, matching the description given in the radio transmission. Accordingly, Pemba believes that this man was his friend and teammate McDonnell.