Three Great Climbing Books

Still scrounging around for last minute holiday purchases? Consider buying a book, because, in the immortal words of D’Mite (in the style of Lil Jon), “Read a book, read a book, read a muh’fuckin book.” The Climbers, By Jim Herrington The Climbers is, in some ways a coffee table book. Indeed, that’s where my copy is located. It looks beautiful

Make It Till You Make It is Brendan Leonard’s Best Book. (Or, At Least, My Favorite)

Ah, the drafty corridors of Fringe’s Folly. A place where few are listening, and fewer are talking. A place where a man can say what he wants. A place where nobody exchanges commerce for goods or services, where all things uttered are unutterable truths, where the truth shall set you free. The fringe, the periphery, the… Anyway, this isn’t about Fringe’s Folly.

The New Black Canyon Guidebook — The XMAS Present That Keeps On Giving

    Vic Zeilman recently published a brand new guidebook to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, in Colorado, with K. Daniels Publishing, and the verdict is in: the book is incredible. The book is everything the Black is. It’s rough edged, it’s got old beatup photos, its font makes it look like a hand-typed and xeroxed communist propaganda pamphlet from

NWALPINE’s Alpha Hoody and Simplicity Jacket

So, full disclosure before you read this review: I am a NWALPINE “Athlete”… which means as near as I can tell that I promote the company through a relatively small amount of social media, I wear their product for appropriate outdoors exploits, and I otherwise support the company however I can. In exchange, I get a little bit of clothing

Alan North’s ‘Of Love and Stone’

I don’t know Alan.  But after reading his book, ‘Of Love and Stone’, I found myself wanting to know him.  I once heard that was a measure of a good writer.  If the writing makes you want to meet the author, you know they’re onto something good.  A little over a month ago, a friend of Alan’s contacted me to

Why is Rakkup So Awesome?

Full disclosure, I am a complete luddite when it comes to most advances in technology.  I had a dumb phone until just recently, and I still own an 87 VW golf (with an 82 diesel vanagon engine, to boot!), though that car is on its way out.  A couple months ago, I became probably the first ever Rakkup guidebook author

Fringe’s Folly + Outdoor Research Gear Contest!

Fringe’s Folly is excited to announce our very first gear contest!  Last year, I found myself with the opportunity to do some posts for Outdoor Research’s awesome Verticulture blog.  In return for the blog posts, I received some generous store credit to use on their line of incredible products.  Since OR was so generous with me, I thought I’d try to pass

La Sportiva’s TC Pro: Worth the Dough?

When it comes to the TC Pro, there is really only one question to ask: “can I afford to buy these shoes?”  To this question, I will pose another: “can I afford not to?”  While the TC Pro requires little in the way of an introduction, allow me to give the Fringe’s Folly version.  La Sportiva = top 1 or

Madrock Goes Gender Neutral with Pulse Shoe

Obe Carrion’s latest addition to the Madrock line, The Pulse, is a solid step in the right direction for the future of climbing shoes.  For starters, the concept of Positive and Negative (i.e., wide and narrow) sizing, in lieu of gender stereotyped male and female models is revolutionary.  Who hasn’t tried on and preferred an opposite gender shoe before?  The

Ocun’s Crack Gloves, AKA Hand Jammies

So, let’s talk about the infamous hand jammies.  Now, I’m coming from a unique place, as far as trad climbers go.  I’m not really a crack climber – I’m a face climbing trad-weenie.  It’s not that I don’t like trad climbing – being 20 feet above a purple tcu, and deciphering a tricky crux is definitely my cup of tea.  But