Chuck Fryberger Films

New blog

2010-11-20T13:28:00.002-07:00

we have a new blog that is better integrated with our web sight this one will no longer be up dated please check out the new sight

www.chuckfryberger.com

thanks

Some Nutrition Tips

2010-10-05T07:57:00.002-06:00

Yesterday Nelson gathered us around for some serious advice. It's not very often that he puts on his serious face, but it was clear he had something important to share.

"Huddle up everyone, bring it in. I've got something I need to share."

Nelson said he knew we had all been wondering where he got his moxy... where exactly his game came from. He was now prepared to show us.

As it turns out, it all starts with nutrition.

CORE Updates and More

2010-10-04T14:45:00.004-06:00

CORE is still rolling strong, most recently picked up by Discovery Asia and KLM Airlines. Also, we have a few more live shows lined up for this fall, including one at this weekend's 10th annual Rocktoberfest in the Red River Gorge. If you're in the area, make sure to check it out!

Visit the event's website http://rocktoberfest2010.com/ for the full lineup events, and for more info on the festival. This year's proceeds will go to benefit the Pendergrass-Murray Recreational Preserve.

On a completely unrelated note, in our last post we announced that we will soon be sporting an uber-sexy, ultra-streamlined, and highly sophisticated new website. Well, here's the man who's gonna take us there- web designer and follicle-ally blessed, Mr. Keith Driessen.

2010-09-30T09:51:00.008-06:00

Last week we cruised up to Aspen to shoot a fragrance commercial for our portfolio, showcasing the newest scent from Nolo Contendre, Source. Here I am scouting locations at the Maroon Bells with Art Director Colette McInerney. As you can see we were brimming with excitement! At least 20% more excited than the lurkers in the background!

That energy carried over to the day of the shoot with an early start. Temps were chilly and we forced our model to trudge gracefully through a swamp at sunrise, dressed almost exclusively in ribbons. She was a real trooper.

It wasn't until about 11am that Nelson began to sober up. Or maybe it was the ribbons that were just so intoxicating....

But, once he did it was definitely business time.

In the afternoon, we went up Independence Pass for some close-ups by the river, and then on to the top of the pass for sunset. Here are some shots to enjoy, including a couple still frames of video:

Keep an eye out for the finished commercial which will be up shortly on our soon-to-be-unveiled NEW WEBSITE!

The Coup

2010-09-28T12:05:00.004-06:00

Listen. Stephanie "never did nothing to no one" so she says. That is why I thought I would start the ball of karma rolling. Sorry Steph, no hard feelings, thats just the type of fun and games we have around here.

Keith chimes in with an update

2010-09-23T09:09:00.003-06:00

Today I got a very important video announcement from noted photographer Keith Ladzinski. What does that mean anyways... noted? Well Keith seems to think it's really something, since he always talks about how noted he is. I digress. Apparently there is a discrepency between Urban Dictionary's definition of the phrase 'no bones' and the true meaning. Thankfully, Keith is there to clear it up for us.

We like Keith and we're proud that he's our special buddy.

Pop Quiz

2010-09-14T16:28:00.007-06:00

Situation:

You have an illuminated closet light. You need to turn off said light. Which action below will give you the desired result?

A. Pull the string that dangles from the light.

B. Flick this switch.

If you're Nelson, you would definitely choose B.

So You want to be a lens super star and live large.

2010-09-09T13:14:00.002-06:00

O MY BLOG!

My name is Nelson Carayannis this will be the first of many posts that i will be doing hear at Chuck Fryberger films! So I would like to kick this one off with a little something about how great it is to be contributing as a cinematographer to the company. i have never worked with such great and competent people whom are such a pleasure to be around. that being said i figured that i would post a little video about it.

Thanks for watching

-Nelson-

2010 Pikes Peak Ascent and Pikes Peak Marathon

2010-08-27T14:49:00.008-06:00

This past weekend Nelson and I had the pleasure of documenting the 2010 Pikes Peak Ascent and Pikes Peak Marathon. For the three-day shoot, we hired on cinematographers Chris Alstrin and Scott Neel. A three camera team was essential to covering the massive scope of the events, which brought thousands of runners from around the globe to the small town of Manitou Springs, CO.

As I guessed beforehand, runners are insane. I saw one of the top finishers of the Ascent promptly faceplant into talus after crossing the finish line. He was then almost carried to one of the vans waiting to shuttle runners back down to Manitou. But, after turning in times just over two hours (for 13 miles and 8,000 vertical feet of gain) it was hard to find the humor in the situation.

Seriously. These athletes are pretty bad-ass.

Not too unlike these handsome gentlemen, ignoring normal traffic laws.

And you may be wondering what Chuck has been up to these days? Well, from what I can tell he's gone native.

Cheers!

Steph

iCLIMB

2010-08-17T10:16:00.005-06:00

Check out the new Chuck Fryberger short Altitude Sickness at iCLIMB.

Featuring Daniel Woods on an exploration of high altitude alpine bouldering in Colorado, Altitude Sickness includes two of Daniel's recent FA's, The Great War For Civilization and Evil Backwards, and a flash of Unshackled. Guest appearances by Dave Graham, Jon Cardwell, Jon Gass, and Jimmy Webb.

Stream it for free or purchase a higher resolution version for just $.99. You can also download feature-length climbing films at iCLIMB, including CFF's own CORE and PURE. Download now at www.iclimb.com

Yes, We Are Still Alive

2010-08-10T13:17:00.010-06:00

Chuck is busy. So busy that his last blog post was on June 10th. And now I can reluctantly add professional blogger to my job description. But, this has been in the plans for a while now. Our company is expanding, and as such the blog will be run a little differently from now on. First of all, this is no longer the Chuck Show. You can now expect posts from myself, Chuck (mostly about geeky things like camera equipment), and our newest member, second camera and loyal pack-mule, Nelson Carayannis.

Welcome to the team Nelson!

Have a beer.

For those of you concerned with the real business. Here is the quick and dirty update: First, Planet Snowkite. This Friday, Chuck is leaving for Argentina, to the southern-most point in South America, and the city of Ushuaia. There he and a team from Planet Snowkite will film a television series revolving around this emerging sport that uses an assistive kite to help the athletes perform massive aerials. Far-removed from the relatively slow sport of climbing, this job will test Chuck's capabilities to move fast and capture a much broader scope of movement.

While he's away, Nelson and I will be documenting this year's annual Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon. Personally, I'm very excited to be behind the camera for this suffer-fest. Both the Ascent and the Marathon begin in Manitou Springs, and cover the 13.2 miles and almost 8,000 ft of vertical gain to the summit. Then the marathoners have the daunting task of a return trip. Recently I have been begrudgingly suffering through the Lincoln Lake hike, which is only about 700 vertical feet, of walking, so I can only assume a shared mental illness amongst the participants.

Once Chuck returns, we will begin full pre-production on Song of the Untouchable. Travel to India is notoriously difficult, and I envision that we won't exactly look like your typical vacationers when our motley crew arrives with full camera equipment in tow. The fall will be packed with visa applications, travel carnets, and jumping through government hoops. Psyched!

And finally, after a very positive trip to the SLC trade show, it looks like we have the support of our sponsors to begin production on another climbing documentary. I suspect filming to start shortly after Chuck returns from the southern hemisphere, possibly only to return......

Sincerely,
Stephanie

Reviews and Updates

2010-06-10T11:23:00.006-06:00

We've got some reviews in on CORE, and we went ahead and made a little secondary marketing push now that the film is out and apparrently it's a hit.

We also updated our web site with some examples of recent commercial work. Check out the KFC and Bona Kemi ads for a glimpse of what we've been up to since CORE's release.

Our biggest advertising job to date: National cable DRTV ad for Swedish Hardwood Floor manufacturer Bona Kemi.

A :30 ad for KFC celebrating the greatest sandwich of all time. The Double-Down.

Click Here to Check out the Commercials!

Stephanie is hard at work on our next newsletter, which will *hopefully* contain some exciting news. These are fun times at Chuck Fryberger Films. Life is good!

Epic - the good kind

2010-05-28T10:14:00.004-06:00

Generally I think Epics are to be avoided, but having just threw down the deposit on the new generation of cameras from Red, I have to say that I cant wait to experience this kind of EPIC.

5K raw recording with 13.5 stops of dynamic range, and up to 225 frames per second makes this a perfect art machine.

On a climbing note, I'm headed to Rifle this weekend to see what's dry and get on some limestone. Cant wait to get on Zulu and Living in Fear, two routes that I've been on before but have never even come close to trying to redpoint.

Have a great weekend,
Chuck

CORE mini-tour... Slovenia

2010-05-23T17:00:00.002-06:00

CORE is going on a mini-tour of Slovenia, with DJ konTROLL at the helm, with the support of Samsara climbing holds, LA Sportiva, and Blurr.

CORE SLOVENIA!!!

CORE in Brazil

2010-04-28T12:30:00.002-06:00

I just got word that the CORE show in Brazil was a great success. Our host there prepared Portuguese subtitles for the film, and he said that many more people showed up to see the film than what they expected.

CORE in Brazil, blog post (in Portuguese).

Awesome to have a representation in Brazil. I would love to visit Brazil some time to do some climbing and some filming there, and meet all the cool people.

Cheers,

Chuck

The Jamie Emerson Interview

2010-04-15T17:59:00.003-06:00

Today I went up to Boulder for a day. I had lunch with Chris Clark from Scarpa, dropped into The Spot Bouldering Gym, bought a new microphone cable, and met up with Jamie Emerson for an interview.

Red Bull Austria is currently close to finishing a project called Elements, which follows Kilian Fischhuber through several travels and competitions. I've worked several days on this film over the last few years, and I think about 5 or 6 minutes of the film will be from footage I shot. Today I sat down with Jamie to find out what it's like to set routes when you know that Kilian is going to show up and try to break down your hard work.

As usual, Jamie was outspoken and very knowledgeable about the topics. I would speculate that few people spend as much time thinking about climbing as Jamie.

For this video clip, I told him to pretend like I just down-graded his project. Look at that mean face. Love you JE. I am shooting the Red One on build 30 at the moment, and really liking the results I'm getting. Red has changed around the FLUT which is a component of the color science in the compressed RAW data. I'm finding that I'm getting better skin tones overall with the new color science. Geek of the day award goes to yours truly.

The film will be released mostly in Europe I believe. Not sure exactly when but I'll post up some more info when I have it.

Cheers,
Chuck

Before and After

2010-04-10T12:18:00.005-06:00

I'm currently testing some footage from the new generation of Red cameras. One of the best things about shooting on Red is the amount of processing you can apply to the footage. Here, we see a test clip that represents the raw data from the shoot. In other words, this is what it looked like as raw capture data, straight from the sensor.

After applying some correction, processing, and some effects (more than I would typically use... but hey... we're testing here) I was able to get a more dramatic image from the original data.

There are huge advantages to shooting with a raw camera that has over 13 stops of dynamic range. If you're an art director or marketing person for a company, be on the lookout for the wave of photographers who are currently dabbling with 'movie mode' on their SLR cameras and hocking the results as professional. You can get away with murder if your end result is Vimeo, but if you are aiming for a higher-quality playback format... beware!

Looking forwards

2010-04-10T10:11:00.005-06:00

The Red One's big brother - Epic.

With the release of CORE I'm now free to look forwards once again. As I'm now inbetween films, I can do some commercial work, recharge my creative batteries, and wait for the inspiration to arrive so I can dive into another project.

I currently have no less than three feature films that are in various stages of production or pre-production (one of them is about climbing), but everything now is at a standstill as far as production is concerned. I get to take a breath and make some careful considerations about what comes next in my own artistic and technical development as a director and cinematographer.

Red, the revolutionary camera company that is bringing cinema-quality gear to market at prices that even hacks like me can afford, has announced the upgrade path to their next generation of camera - the Epic. I'm one of the first in line for the new generation of cameras but I need to consider carefully if now is a good time to upgrade from a camera that is already pretty gosh darn amazing.

On another note, Panasonic has announced plans to release a full 4K Display. This is the first display I've heard of that has the capability to display 4K resolution, which is of course the native resolution of the Red One.

The Panasonic 4K Plasma. If you have to ask how much it costs, you cant afford one.

As I've always said, there's no need for sharp gear when you have fuzzy ideas. And right now I'm creatively depleted from CORE, so time will tell if I step up to the plate and once again pounce on the highest quality cinema gear for my upcoming projects.

Cheers,
Chuck

Viewings

2010-04-09T14:33:00.002-06:00

So at this point, Blu-ray copies of CORE are circulating, and the global tour now has over 50 live shows. The DVD hits shelves worldwide on May 1st, and the HD download starts on the same day.

I was reviewing the full-length copy of CORE today once again as I prepare the 52-minute version for TV broadcast, and I wanted to offer some hints about what to look for if you've already seen the film. There's a few layers going on in the film aside from just people climbing on rocks.

Layer #1 - People climbing on rocks
Layer #2 - Money
Layer #3 - Work / What is a professional climber?
Layer #4 - Todd Skinner

To be continued...

Blowing like the Wyoming breeze

2010-04-08T07:31:00.002-06:00

The World premiere is concluded. We had a packed house last night at the Boulder Theater for CORE and overall the film was very well received. Always great to hear the audience cheering for the climbers on the screen.

At this point, I still have a lot to do to wrap up the project, but my mind is now free to wander off and get inspired for the next thing.

An Early Review

2010-04-05T07:46:00.003-06:00

So I guess whenever anyone says anything about a "FILM", you are supposed to put it inside these laurel things. Usually you see pretentious film festival awards featured inside these little plants but as many of you know I could care less what a panel of judges thinks about my films. I got a comment earlier today from an early blu-ray buyer and I thought it was worth re-posting here, so I put it in some laurels so as to adhere to tradition.

Please join us at the World Premiere of CORE at the Boulder Theater on Wednesday at 7pm.

Cheers,
Chuck

CORE goes out the door

2010-04-01T07:56:00.007-06:00

Well it's April 1, my scheduled release date for the Blu-Ray edition of CORE. Today is the start of the release of the film, with the Blu-Ray shipping today, live screenings starting in just a few days worldwide, and then on May 1 the DVD will hit shelves around the world and the HD download goes live.

A frame from Nalle's Finland segment

CORE represents a massive statement about the sport of climbing and the athletes who I feel best represent the spirit of the sport. The concept of the heart, the title of CORE, the opening scenes, the symbols of what we take away from the experience. It was a goal of mine to try to create a defining film. Without doubt, the production level of this one particuar micro-budget film genre has been multiplying each year. When I started making videos, I just went climbing and carried a camera around and what I created was good enough to sell thousands of copies. Now I'm shooting with a $50,000 camera system and hiring lighting designers. I traveled to Finland for two weeks and came back with just 5-minutes of CORE. Based on some early reviews, I think I may have hit my mark however. One reviewer said

"I think that CORE is a turning point. There will eventually be two kinds of videos - those that came before CORE, and those that come after."

A frame from Matt Wilder's Hueco segment

It's optimistic to think that I've created the iconic climbing film of our generation. Eventually the hype will cool off and then we'll really see if the film has the kind of staying power it takes to keep people talking about it for years instead of just months.

I'm proud to announce the release of the Blu-Ray edition of CORE. It's taken a long time to create this film but it's finally ready to go out in the best format currently available. I've watched the blu-ray several times on various types of monitors and projectors and it's really amazing how realistic it is. Less like watching a video and more like looking out a window.

The Blu-Ray features the uncut Fred Nicole interview - sit down with the legend himself for a full 60 minutes of uninterrupted conversation.

The Blu-Ray is available now, and it will start shipping out today.

ORDER HERE

If you're in the Denver / Boulder area, please join us for the world premiere of CORE at the Boulder Theater on Wednesday, April 7th at 7pm.

Best,

Chuck

Hair Metal: The Definitive Guide

2010-03-19T11:13:00.002-06:00

If you're looking for some inspiration for what to wear to the CORE premiere on April 7th at the Boulder Theater, Here's some ideas:

Remember, this is serious. We're giving away $2000 in prizes to the best dressed. I repeat... this is serious. Matt Wilder will be officiating the contest to if you see him in the next couple weeks you might just want to throw down some dance moves on the spot just to gauge his reaction. Trust me.

Build 21

2010-03-17T16:30:00.002-06:00

We're in between projects now, so I'm taking the opportunity to maintain the equipment and make some upgrades. I upgraded the Red to build 21, the latest firmware release. Stephanie took a break from booking CORE shows to model for me.

Yes, I may have to do some more scientific testing to start getting truly awesome results, but for now, here's the first shot with the Build 21 RED. Click through to Youtube and watch in HD if you're curious to see the full quality.

Cheers,

Chuck

Sean Hannity rips on my girlfriend

2010-03-16T13:32:00.004-06:00

As those of you who follow the excellent climbing-news blog B3 Bouldering already know, Fox lackey Sean Hannity recently counted down the biggest waste of taxpayer stimulus dollars and who landed in the #2 spot? My girlfriend, Sarah Marvez. Well, not actually her, but a building of her design.

She recently designed Movement Climbing and Fitness in Boulder Colorado under Jim Logan Architects in Boulder. This building is one of the largest carbon-neutral buildings in the country, meaning that over it's lifespan, it generates net zero carbon emissions through use of solar power and efficient energy usage.

This is a little remix I did that compares his candor and appearance to Dr. Clifton L. Gayness Jr, also probably a mouthpiece for the Rupert Murdoch of his day.

Sarah should be proud. If you make #2 on Sean Hannity's list of anything bad then you're probably doing something VERY RIGHT. Keep it up girlfriend!

CORE Trailer

2010-02-28T12:35:00.003-07:00

Whew.

After over a month locked into the edit suite, I'm finally ready to let CORE off the leash. The trailer goes out now, and the film will have its world premiere at the Boulder Theater on April 7th. It will be available worldwide on Blu-Ray starting in April, and then in May it will be out on DVD and HD Download. We have dozens of screenings coming up, so check www.ChuckFryberger.com for the updated tour calendar as we add shows in North America and Europe.

We started filming in June 2009 and wrapped our last shoot day just seven days ago. Behold, 9 months of work distilled into 3 and 1/2 minutes.

What it's about.

2010-02-12T18:26:00.002-07:00

It was about this time last year that I said that PURE was about contrast. I've finally figured out what CORE is about. It's about loving something that doesn't love you back. You'll see. In fact, you'll see in the very first frame of the film.

chuck

This just went in the video.

2010-02-10T12:27:00.002-07:00

So..... this just got added to the video.

2010-02-09T14:21:00.002-07:00

Editing

2010-02-09T08:20:00.002-07:00

I'm well into the edit on CORE now. The pieces are starting to come together... slowly. I'm working with over 5 Terabytes of footage and the style of editing is painstaking. Speaking of editing... here's an awesome re-edited remix of an infomercial I saw recently:

Poll Question

2010-02-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

What is the maximum resolution of your biggest display?

Thanks!

Nalle gets the 2009 Golden Piton

2010-01-29T15:08:00.004-07:00

My main man and featured PURE and CORE athlete Nalle Hukkataival has recently been awarded the 2009 Golden Piton from Climbing Magazine for his bouldering achievements of the past year. If they had an 'Urban Ninja' award I'm sure he would have taken that too. I'm proud that the staff of the magazine chose an appropriate photo for their news: NALLE TRAINING IN INNSBRUCK

As soon as I heard the news I called Nalle, who is in Spain at the moment doing some sport climbing. He agreed to give me a brief interview about the award.

Chuck: Hey Nalle, I'm glad I was able to reach you on your cell phone.

Nalle: Yeah, well even here in spain I can get some service.

CF: I wanted to congratulate you on your recent award. The Golden Piton! That's great!

Nalle: Yeah, a piton. What the f*ck am I supposed to do with a piton? I dont even ice climb.

CF: I think it's more of a symbol...

Nalle: Yeah but I mean, why not give me something useful like a beer or a.... (pauses) ... different kind of beer?

CF: Well I dont think that is really the point.

Nalle: Okay, but the colors clash with the other colors in my van. I mean, I guess I could change the whole color skeem to accommidate the award, but I've got a great purple and pink thing going in there now and I think I'll stay with it.

CF: Purple and pink? Is your english failing you?

Nalle: No.

CF: How did you decide to go with those colors?

Nalle: Well, I've been sport climbing a lot lately, and those colors seemed to really embrace my feelings at the moment.

CF: Excuse me?

Nalle: I've just become a lot more thensitive. Sorry, sensitive.

CF: Wow, okay. So tell me about the ladies in Spain?

Nalle: Well mostly I've just been hanging out with other athletic young men who climb.

CF: Oh, okay. Well if you had to describe the feeling of getting the Golden Piton, what would it be?

Nalle: Super.

CF: Thanks for the interview.

Nalle: Ciao!

Day one with Greg Walker

2010-01-24T14:23:00.007-07:00

Yesterday was day one of shooting on Song of the Untouchable with Dr. Gregory Walker. He's a violinist but not like the ones you're probably thinking of right now. Here's a video of one of his performances from a while back.

The blog for Song of the Untouchable can be found at this web address: www.SongoftheUntouchable.blogspot.com

I'm psyched to be rolling on the project and I'm really happy with what we did yesterday. Here's a frame from Macky Auditorium, the venue of last night's concert.

And a cool portrait of our featured musical athlete...

Nick Duttle

2010-01-18T10:50:00.002-07:00

On Sunday I went climbing in Clear Creek Canyon with my friend Nick Duttle. Originally from Las Cruces New Mexico, Nick has been a fixture in the Hueco Tanks scene and spends most of his time climbing steep and powerful routes.

He had worked on Prime Time to Shine and after a few minor tweaks to his beta at the upper crux, he hiked the route like he was warming up. Awesome to see a 190-pound climber crushing those tiny crimps.

This week we're prepping for the trade show and getting ready for day #1 of shooting on Song of The Untouchable, an upcoming feature documentary we'll be working on until May of 2011 with the great Violinist Gregory Walker. SOTU has it's own blog, which you can check out HERE

Cheers and happy Monday.

Paul Robinson Video is LIVE

2010-01-13T09:10:00.001-07:00

The profile video I made with Paul Robinson is live on the web this morning. Check it out!

Denver Rescue Mission

2010-01-08T17:37:00.003-07:00

Today the staff here at Chuck Fryberger Films donated some time to help serve lunch to the residents at the Denver Rescue Mission. We spent about four hours at the facility preparing the service, dishing out the food, and cleaning up afterwards. It was a great experience and a joy to help some folks get back on their feet.

Hueco with Matt Wilder

2010-01-05T13:56:00.004-07:00

I have just returned from Hueco Tanks where I spent a week following the efforts of Matt Wilder (OMFG I totally got his autograph) to establish a new first ascent in the heart of West Mountain. After four days of effort the project eventually went and I was able to cover the whole FA with a single, 15-foot camera move. Matt's approach to projecting a difficult boulder was great to watch and needless to say the climb is of high quality and great difficulty. Here's a frame from the video.

Matt Wilder, FA, Bandersnatch

On my way back to Golden I stopped off and visited Michael Clark, who has a new book out on adventure photography. Michael has been a great source of advice for many photographers including myself. On my way out Michael bought me breakfast at the Flying Tortilla and gave me a D700 with a massive new lens (the Nikon 24 - 70 f2.8) that I can shoot stills with and also use on my Red One. If you ever meet him on the road just ask for a free camera and he'll probably give you one.

I'm quite psyched to continue the edit on CORE and get it out as soon as possible. It's looking like it's just a couple months from completion at this point.

Cheers,
Chuck

Some words and climbs from Fred Nicole

2009-12-28T09:57:00.002-07:00

prAna has posted the video I made about Fred Nicole. In this short piece, you can see some climbs and hear some words from the master himself. If you dig it, embed it on your blog! CORE will feature a segment with Fred, where we can learn more and see Fred's recent hybrid boulder-route in Switzerland that I filmed in November.

BJ Tilden

2009-12-23T12:32:00.003-07:00

I've started the edit on CORE. First up, BJ Tilden. Here's some visuals:

2009-12-20T10:07:00.002-07:00

PURE is now available as a digital download. I am really shocked with the quality of the download system available for the film. I was able to download the entire 2GB file in under 30 minutes to my laptop, connect it to my TV via an HDMI cable, and the film has never looked so awesome. I'm stoked and I think this is surely a model for the future. It's available RIGHT NOW!

PURE HD DOWNLOAD

My man and featured PURE athlete Nalle Hukkataival has been doing his thing lately, tearing through Europe and bouldering hard. Above is a pic from a recent FA, called Ninja Skills. Awesome to hear news of his recent accomplishments trickling back through the grapevine. When people see the footage of Livin Large, Nalle's recent 8C FA in South Africa, they're gonna freak.

Cheers,
chuck

Here's an amazing trailer.

2009-12-19T20:27:00.003-07:00

This trailer is for a Surf movie shot on the Red One. If CORE can come close to this level of visual awesomeness then I'll be stoked.

The Matt Wilder Interview

2009-12-17T20:21:00.005-07:00

Whew. Three big interviews this week in the can, two for my new film, which I've just decided to name CORE. I did one of the big ones today, with Matt Wilder. Here's a frame from the video. Tomorrow a big edit session and a stills photo shoot in the evening, and then a weekend editing the Paul Robinson Prana piece and prepping PURE for TV broadcast. I've had one day off in the last three weeks. My eyes hurt.

Chuck

Andy Mann

2009-12-15T21:05:00.003-07:00

Today I had the chance to interview one of my good friends, Andy Mann. It was great to catch up with Andy and hear about his latest projects. I filmed a very cool sequence with him and his guitar for the new film. What else can I say? Andy is one of the coolest guys around, so I'll just leave it at that.

Paul Robinson

2009-12-14T19:21:00.004-07:00

Today I had the chance to interview Paul Robinson for a series of videos I'm working on for prAna. Paul is one of my favorite climbers to hang out with... his positive attitude is a real pleasure to capture. And he's a kick-ass painter.

I'm really psyched with the way the video looks. Here's a couple frames.

Cheers,

Chuck

Chevy Volt

2009-12-11T08:30:00.003-07:00

Chevy has been running an ad campaign hyping the environmental benefits of their new Volt car, which also has a 'range-extending gas generator'. Well that's nice. But until we switch out our coal-fired power plants in favor of renewable electricity sources, it just means that if you run out of coal power, you can switch to gas. How eco-friendly.

The near future

2009-12-03T07:51:00.003-07:00

Obviously there's a lot more to film making than the toys you use, but it's an important part of the equation, since your acquisition format has a lot to do with the overall look and the style you bring to the project as a cinematographer. As an early owner of a Red One, I'm one of the first in line for the next generation of cameras coming out from the company, and needless to say I cant wait until they are released. Shooting 20-megapixel video with 15-bit dynamic range in RAW format is on the horizon.

Cheers,
Chuck

A few more frames from the new video

2009-12-02T10:14:00.005-07:00

Here's a few video frames from Matt Wilder's new 5.14 trad climb on the Devils Thumb. Great to have some proper traditional climbing in the video. Over the next couple months I'll be working with Matt to capture some more stuff, but I have to say it will be hard to top this one...

The Italian Job

2009-11-28T11:00:00.005-07:00

Coffee in Italy... the morning routine.

I'm back to the USA now, after a whirlwind tour of the Italian bouldering scene. We filmed at a few awesome places... Sassofortino was the first stop. This area hosts large grey boulders in a shady forest. Not a huge area, but it provided our crew with plenty to work on for the five days we spent there. Every day we hung out in the forest, filming and bouldering. Every evening we chose a different pizzaria to feast at. I managed to repeat my proud achievement of sucking out a candle... but the big award goes to Irene who on-sighted the feat. Rumor has it she can suck-start a Harley Davidson.

Sucking out a candle. Photo by Michele Caminati

Before leaving Tuscany we headed down to some natural hot springs called Saturnia. I accidently filmed a topless girl while doing a camera test. Honest. Then we filmed the conclusion of the film, with Cody signing off from Tuscany and making a very surprising announcement.

Hot Springs in Tuscany

Following this, we trucked up to northern Italy in Klemen's van. Klemen is from Slovenia and he owns a hold company called Samsara. He is one of Cody's long time friends and his company on the trip was really great. I'm a big fan of anyone who wakes up early and motivates people to get out to the crag, cause a movie about people sleeping in till noon is not going to be very exciting.

After we drove north from Tuscany, we needed a place to sleep for the night. Under normal conditions I would have just bivied on the ground, but on this night it was raining buckets and the wind was howling. There was - literally - no room at the inn, and so Klemen generously offered that we could all sleep in his van. I added his name onto the long list of people I owe a huge thanks to.

Nelson wakes up and does some break dancing.

Klemen wakes up after a long night in the van.

We went to Ceriola and collected footage of the sandstone blocs there. Ceriola is an area developed in part by Michele Caminati, whose enthusiasm and skill were a true pleasure to record. He is one of the most technically gifted climbers I've ever come across.

Early morning dew in Ceriola.

Stephanie Marvez and Cody warm up in Ceriola.

Great rock at Ceriola.

Over the next few days, we filmed with Lucas Preti, who has been buildering around his home in northern Italy for some time. I'm not going to give too much detail here, but, yes, that is a real Ferrari in Stephanie's glasses.

Lucas Preti

I'm starting to work with the footage now, laying out some rough edits. Still trying to figure out a title for the new video... I have a concept but not the exact word yet. I still have to do a bit of filming around the western US to complete the work, but I definitely feel like I'm on the home stretch now and am getting closer to catching the carrot.

Cheers,

Chuck

The Fred Nicole Interview

2009-11-14T13:17:00.004-07:00

Today I had the opportunity to interview Fred for my film. I compiled all the questions asked here on my blog and we got through the vast majority of them in the time we had. Thanks to everyone who contributed by asking a question. Overall Fred was very candid and open and I feel like the interview really represents his feelings on all the topics discussed. The place we chose for the interview was quite special, as you can see from the pictures.

My time here in Switzerland is now just one more day, hopefully the weather will be good so I can try to climb.

I'll be speaking soon from Austria, and then shortly later from Italy. Stay tuned because it's about to get a little more hectic.

:-)

Chuck

Vernayaz

2009-11-13T01:54:00.005-07:00

This is the view from the train as I rode from Lausanne to Zurich. Lac Leman and the Alps....

I'm just back to Zurich now from a few days spent in and around Lausanne. Vernayez was the bouldering area of choice and I came away from the day with a very good feeling about this small, occasionally very noisy, area. The peaceful day was interrupted occasionally by the nearby shooting range, where people discharge weapons that even an American would be proud of. I had a teriffic time shredding myself on the small crimps, and checking out a very difficult project from Reto Hartmann, a very active local developer.

Yet another great day in the forest, just climbing whatever looked good.

On-sighting a 7c boulder problem in Vernayez, CH.

Today Fred and I are heading out once again by train to see if there's some dry rock to climb. I'm slowly learning that perhaps the biggest difference between awesome climbers (Fred) and good climbers (myself) is that the awesome ones feel compelled to head out no matter what... even if it's just to climb a few moves and check on conditions, when the rest of us would be satisfied to surf Facebook and have a quick gym session.

Cheers,
Chuck

Ask the man.

2009-11-09T02:27:00.002-07:00

I'm in Switzerland at the moment, doing some filming and visiting friends. We climbed two days in the boulder wonderland of Chironico and I have to say the place is amazing. This was my fourth visit to Chironico and probably the most enjoyable one yet. We had cool fall temperatures and the forest floor was covered in thick gold leaves. I met Stephanie Marvez here, who is working in Switzerland at the moment, as well as two of her friends Irene and Martin. Our little crew went around climbing anything that looked good and we stayed out till dark on both days. I did tons of problems, one especially cool one called Rain Dogs. Yesterday the fog was rolling in and out as we were climbing, much like the whole valley was breathing slowly.

I filmed Fred Nicole recently on a extremely difficult problem that is a very unique style. Fred discovered the route with his friend Christof and after a very long time was able to send the problem, which is essentially a very long bouldering roof followed by a short sport route. The route moves like a boulder problem but is very long, similar to Witness the Fitness perhaps. Fred of course suggested no grade but when people see the footage I'm sure the speculation will be intense.

I had an idea and Fred agreed that it might be cool. I would like to open up my blog to have people write in and ask a question of Fred Nicole. I need to interview him anyways for the film, so I thought it might be a good opportunity for him to take questions from some other folks at the same time. I think one of the sad things about climbing is that often the leaders of the sport are simply those who make the most noise, not necessarily those who have the most to say. So... if you have a question you would like to ask Fred... now's your chance. I'll compile the questions and edit them for clarity, and then conduct the interview on Thursday or Friday this week. Feel free to reply to this post, or drop me an email at Chuck@Chuckfryberger.com if you have something to ask. I'll include portions of Fred's interview in my next film, and I'll include the entire thing as an extra on the DVD, and then in the future I'll make it available for free on the web. If you ask a question, please include your real name. We'll include as many questions as possible in the time we have.

So ask away!

Cheers,
Chuck

Heading out!

2009-11-02T09:36:00.002-07:00

I'm getting ready to head back to Europe for a few weeks. I've got a massive docket of stuff to shoot, people to meet, and drinks to gedranken. Stay tuned here for some updates as I do my thing filming people doing their thing.

Cheers,
Chuck

Bigger than Blu-Ray?

2009-10-26T09:35:00.003-06:00

I'm back in the USA now, after a great visit to Finland. Surprisingly enough it was warmer in Finland than it was in Colorado for most of my visit. Now that I'm home I'm putting the finishing touches on various miscellaneous projects and trying to clean off my plate so I can focus on my new climbing film for most of the winter.

One thing I am exploring is the possibility of higher-quality viewing methods than DVD. While DVD's are great, they are still standard definition. Other technologies like Blu-Ray are emerging, but are costly to manufacture. One thing I would like to try to figure out is the possability of releasing my next film in a higher quality than blu-ray. I'm filming in 4K which is about 10 times higher resolution than the standard 720p HD. If I down-size the footage to 2K (2048 x 1024) I could potentially release the film via digital download in higher resolution (though, lesser bit-rate) than even Blu-Ray, and for a fraction of the cost. Plus, we dont have to use fossil fuels to manufacture and ship the discs all over the planet!

BUT, the playback systems have to be able to handle it. SOOOO.... that's where you come in, loyal blog reader.

Follow this link to download a sample of one possible release format:

NALLE DRIVES TO ROCKLANDS TEST 01

Please download the file and open it on your system. Then play it back and watch carefully to see the quality. You'll need a recent version of Quicktime to open the file.

Then please reply here with your feedback. I'm particularly interested in one main thing: Can your system play the footage back smoothly, or does it skip frames and play back choppy?

Try it at a few sizes, try scrolling around, try it in full screen or loop mode, and let me know what you think! I'll give you a "Research and Development" credit in the film if you leave a reply for me with your results.

Cheers,

Chuck

Helsinki

2009-10-14T12:41:00.001-06:00

The bridge jumping team

2009-10-13T15:12:00.003-06:00

Here's a photo of some of the people who came out bridge jumping with us the other day.

Finland

2009-10-11T10:49:00.008-06:00

I've been in Finland for a few days now, doing some filming and hanging out in Helsinki. The climbing here is pretty nice, but I think it must be very hard to develop new boulders because most of the boulders here are well hidden in the thick forest. When the Finns find something new though it seems to be pretty good. I've just been out a couple days so far, to a nearby area called Sipoo, which is about 20 minutes from Helsinki. Nalle has done most of the boulders around here so it's fun to be able to pick and choose which ones to film. One problem we filmed is called Hyper Gravity and is a long problem which climbs out a horizontal roof on amazing little incut holds.

Hypergravity!

Thus far I have met about a dozen Finns. I have a hard time remembering all their names, and an even harder time pronouncing them, but they're all friendly and very fun to hang out with. We've been out to a few night clubs and overall everyone is social, happy, and eager to hear how my trip to Finland is going. Maybe the worst part is the price of beer, which is absolutely outrageous and may in fact lead to civil war. One can of beer will cost you about 4 dollars if you buy it at the grocery store. At a bar, expect to pay from 7 - 9 dollars for a beer.

Today we went bridge jumping with some of Nalle's friends. It's a fun activity and not too hard to pull off when you're hung over on a Sunday.

Finland Preview from Chuck Fryberger on Vimeo.

Nalle Hukkataival pushes one of his friends off a bridge.

Part of the mission here is to capture Nalle's lifestyle around Helsinki, and one cool thing he does sometimes is ride his longboard around town to see friends or go to the gym to train. We shot a couple longboarding scenes and here's a frame from one of the tunnels. We called the emergency number and told them we were going to be using a smoke machine for a while, and they said it was cool.

Longboarding in Helsinki

The next few days will be spent trying to send a hard trad project which lies a couple hours from Helsinki.

Until next time,

Chuck

Another weekend in Lander

2009-10-05T11:33:00.003-06:00

Here's a shot of BJ Tilden cranking on his home turf in Lander, WY. I'm really looking forward to sitting down and cutting all the rad footage for Pure II. Wednesday night I'm off to Finland to catch up with Nalle and see what his scene in Helsinki is all about. The video has a couple sponsors on board now so it's starting to pick up some traction. Stay tuned for some updates from Helsinki!

Photos from Colorado Sandstone

2009-10-01T08:33:00.003-06:00

Fun cranking last weekend with the P-man.

Senior portrait

2009-09-30T17:10:00.002-06:00

Today I shot Flan's senior portrait.

Video from the new sandstone area

2009-09-30T08:50:00.002-06:00

I have some new video from the awesome sandstone area Rob Pizem and I have started developing. Here in this video you can see some of the early route development and get a feel for the style of the climbing there. Rob is in great shape right now and I think his climbing style is very inspiring.

Rob Pizem on Fresh Sandstone

Some fresh new sandstone

2009-09-29T08:51:00.002-06:00

I spent the last couple of days developing a very nice new area with my friend Rob Pizem. Piz is mostly noted for his traditional climbing achievements (watch for my new video on Deadpointmag sometime soon) but he is also a great boulderer. His new area is a very fine-grained and pleasant dakota sandstone boulder garden, with several short cliff bands as well as some free-standing blocks in the forest.

While the area lacks a 5-star gem there are dozens of blocks yet to be discovered in the thick pine forest. The climbs we did do (at the end of the weekend we had brushed and climbed about a dozen first ascents) were top notch, and the rock seems better quality than other Dakota areas in Colorado.

Piz plans to sink some bolts into a few of the taller faces and the resulting sport climbs should be top notch. There is also potential for a few trad lines on the crack features. I'll post up some photos as soon as Piz sends them to me. He's off climbing a ten-pitch sport route in RMNP today.

Cheers!

Okay, we've hit the big-time.

2009-09-26T10:21:00.002-06:00

Great to see the sport becoming so popular. Sort of.

Keep an ear out for these awesome lines:

I'm going Ape-Crazy
AKA a big-ass rock
Motha Chucka
I'm climbing an arch!
Still confused yeah?
own each route
sense of difficulty
I own no
Basically you freefall
stay safe silly gooses.
Clam some stuff
bunch-load
supaman that stuff
sexy sloth technique
gnarly shin-breaking injuries

Chucks Big Triangle of Joy

2009-09-25T09:45:00.015-06:00

The Triangle of Joy. Golden - Laramie - Rapid City - Lander - Laramie - Golden.

Laramie, WY. Home of Trains.

I just returned from a great week of travelling open spaces and climbing and filming. I am working on two projects at the moment: the Cloudveil Spring / Summer catalog and my next climbing video, which I'm calling Pure II. One of the segments in Pure II is about the West and the climbers who call it home.

On my way across Wyoming I saw an interesting sign....

Luke Kretschmar is one of the other climbers on the Cloudveil team so I went and visited his home crag called the VC. The locals in Rapid City are blessed to have this amazing resource right in their back yard. Steep limestone makes for a great alternative to the sketchy granite run-outs of the rest of the Black Hills. Last year I had a great time there and this year was no different. Perfect conditions and some new routes to check out. I managed the second ascent of the Tan Man, a hard 5.13 with some massive reaches that had me thinking 'go go gadget arms' when I was climbing.

The VC, South Dakota.

Luke Kretschmar Pulling the amazing red limestone at the VC.

I met up with my friend Ben Scott as well, who came up from Fort Collins with his friend Tam AKA Tom. It was great to see Ben again and it reminded me of our first trip to the Black Hills in 2003 when we filmed a video called Friction Addiction. The climbing in the Hills is so sweet right now its hard to even describe. Fall is great.

Ben Scott.

Tam.

Ben managed to get the employee of the day award by sending The Foot Fist Way, a 5.13 with some poserful... er... powerful moves up a steep face.

Luke had bolted a project to the right of the main wall and said it was cool if I got on it. I figured out the crux after a few tries and then rested for a while and linked through the crux boulder problem that same day. Hard to grade this one since it really just boils down to a few powerful moves. Probably not 5.14 but some other repeats will say for sure in the future.

After a couple days in the VC, we went to Spearfish Canyon for a morning of sport climbing on the near-vertical walls there. The temperature had started dropping but despite the occasional snow / hail flurry and cold breezes the climbing conditions were almost ideal. I managed to onsight a 5.13 and then I called it a day and started the long drive over to Lander.

Outside Buffalo, Wyoming.

Of course the drive wouldn't be that long if I didn't stop every five seconds to film something. I'm fascinated with the Wyoming landscape and I just cant get over the beauty of the wide open spaces. I'm lucky enough to be using a camera that can actually stand a chance of capturing such huge surroundings.

The Red One, shooting time lapses.

Can you find the cows in this time lapse?

I arrived in Lander and settled in at BJ Tilden's house. BJ is a carpenter who climbs 5.14 and his personality, location, and way of life fit in well with the western theme of the video. I filmed BJ as he completed his 10-year project 'Genetic Drifter' on the Rodeo Wave in Wild Iris. Great to see BJ in top form sending the hardest route in Wyoming.

Afterwards, we went over to the Erratic and BJ chucked a lap on Heart Full of Ghosts for the camera. Download a sample of the sickness. Raw footage from Wild Iris. BJ is the man.

I'm looking forward to continuing work on the segment, but first I need to go to Finland and get some footage of Nalle's new trad project. More on that later!

Cheers,

Chuck

Kilian Fischhuber

2009-09-17T09:59:00.003-06:00

Kilian recently updated his web site with some cool photos from his send of Air Star. Like it? Love it? ENJOY!

Photos and News (in german)

I'm busy scheduling a long visit to Europe to film another segment for my next video. As long as Kilian's in there somewhere then it's gonna be rad. Nuff Said.

A cool new boulder problem

2009-09-14T08:58:00.003-06:00

Yesterday on the spur of the moment, a small crew of mostly wounded boulderers went up to Three Sisters in Evergreen with me to try a project on a big south-facing overhang called the Wisdom Wall. According to the Mountain Project page about the area, this project has not been climbed yet. I'm not sure if that's the case because you have to be very careful around this region as hard climbing is nothing new. Guys like Rufus Miller have been ticking hard boulder problems around Evergreen for over two decades and keeping a fairly low profile while they were at it. If in fact the line had not been climbed, I would propose the name Rock Cheetah which is more of a state of mind than an actual type of cat. The line is tall and committing, and the crux move leaves you with only two options once you're committed: stick it or fall hard. On the photo above, Rock Cheetah is the righter of the two projects listed.

I thought the problem was awesome, though aesthetically it is not the greatest. For one, it's on a cliff band - not a boulder. For two, the starting hold is a little hollow-sounding. Other than that though it's really a special problem and I was psyched to come up with the goods yesterday. I also made a quick ascent of Undercover Brother, a nice V9 that links into a highball finish up the classic Wisdom problem. This area would be a great hang in the late fall as it gets a full southern exposure. I'll probably climb there some more this Fall.

Cheers!

Grab a frame!

2009-09-13T10:16:00.003-06:00

Click the link below to grab a frame from an upcoming video about Rob Pizem. Fall is in the air and this video grab is sure to get you stoked to go enjoy the cool fall temps. Just download it, right-click and select 'set as desktop background'.

The download wont be available forever so get it while its hot!

Download the video frame!

Free Music!

2009-09-09T09:44:00.003-06:00

Throughout the last five years, I've used the music from my friend Yonnas and his band The Pirate Signal in tons of my climbing videos and advertising work. His style is great and he's a true artist. I went to school with Yonnas and I'm really psyched that he has been able to hack out a living in the meager Denver hiphop scene. I am always psyched when I get to license some of his work for my videos.

He's just released two new tracks and they are available for free download (get em' while they're hot!)

If you like the tunes, you should check out their catalog on ITunes.

Cheers! Here's the links:

I'm a Col. Boi:

And,
Love In The Time Of Swine Flu:

New Home Page

2009-09-09T07:44:00.003-06:00

I re-did my home page recently so head over there (link above) and let me know if it works. I'll still be changing the navigation around, but this site is intended to be a cleaner, simpler site than the previous one.

Cheers, happy Wednesday!

Motorsports are lame

2009-09-01T07:24:00.002-06:00

But the coverage from Top Gear is without a doubt some of the sweetest (and most well-financed) video ever. Just wait till the end:

More progress on the Ethiopia Project

2009-08-26T09:17:00.004-06:00

Last weekend, Wine for Water held its first major event in Paso Robles, CA. The event featured the short film I made about clean water in Ethiopia, and I just heard that over $23,000 was raised. I'm psyched to be a part of this organization and I hope to do more in the future to support it. Donating clean water is a form of aid that helps get people off aid. Clean water gives people the energy and extra time to better help themselves. Consider a donation to this effort today.

Wine For Water

Happy Wednesday.

Saturday at the Park

2009-08-24T08:41:00.003-06:00

Had a great day at the park with Rich and Thomas. Put up a new problem (I believe) to the left of the Not Bacon wall. Starting the same as the V7 on the big sloping rail, but traversing right through powerful gaston moves to a big jug and a moderate top-out. I thought this problem was about 7 points. I had to breathe very hard to send, because this was my first visit to altitude since spending the summer at sea level in South Africa.

I did a lot of mileage on some great moderates, and finished the day with a quick send of Sunspot, a classic V11 just off the trail. It was the end of the day and I had just failed near the top and was ready to go home, but everyone was like 'just rest and give it one more try'... this was already about 10 hours since we left the car... but I rested for about ten minutes and sent next try.

Lesson: when your tired friends say to give it one more try, cause it looks like you're close... LISTEN TO THEM! THANKS THOMAS AND RICH!!

I dont have a picture of sunspot, but I googled it and found one:

I spoke too soon.

2009-08-24T08:26:00.006-06:00

In the below post I mentioned the fantastic Air Star project at Roadside in Rocklands. As it turns out, Austria's world-cup crushing super-hero Kilian Fischhuber has managed to send the line on one of the last days of his trip. This season, I proposed that this line was climbable and was in fact the last great prize at Roadside. As far as I know, this line has been tried (or at least seen) by every single climber who has visited Rocklands. Congratulations to Kilian for having the power to send, and the guts to latch the crux hold and hang on for the ride. I cant wait to try this line in the future. The photo at left is from one of Kevin's attempts during his visit.

Searching for Serendipity

2009-08-20T10:26:00.012-06:00

If I had to distill my experience in South Africa down to a single word that sums up the whole season, that word would be 'searching'.

So much searching, in fact, that my legs are still sore after a week of rest. This season I was excited to search out and discover something new and cool. I wanted to find and complete a boulder problem that was not only at my limit, but had some thing about it that I had never experienced before. Whether a crazy new move or a type of feature I had never climbed... I wanted to just keep searching until I found what I was looking for.

I was able to complete several new problems this season, including the first ascent of an absolute classic I named Spudd Webb in honor of the height-challenged NBA player who could still slam dunk. Despite the fact that it was an amazing, near perfect boulder problem, it was not at the limit of my ability. The 'slam dunk' move is one of the coolest moves I've ever done, but this didn't feel like the climax of my trip.

Spudd Webb, First Ascent.

There were several problems I tried this season that were too hard for me. The notorious project at the Roadside area (we were calling it the Air Star Project) has once again throttled another season of the worlds best boulderers. Had I been able to complete this amazing line, this would have surely fulfilled my vision, but after prolonged attempts and watching other great climbers attempt the line I'm pretty sure this problem is in the V14 - V16 range.

Sadly, the hardest climb I did all season was not of an extremely high quality. Vice President is a direct finish to an existing problem called The Vice, and though it's harder than The Vice, the two-move gut-wrenching power crux is not the graceful, fluid, gymnastic climbing I had fanticized about. Another hard climb I succeeded on was Green Mamba, given 8B or V13, and though I sent this climb relatively quickly it still felt unfulfilling. I was seeking something that I had to struggle with and really break through some barrier to overcome.

One day, myself, Nalle, Kevin, Sarah and I went out to explore a new zone called The Base Camp. These boulders looked great and there was one line that stood out among all the others. A group of motivated Germans were there, including Flo and Axel, who spent the whole season in Rocklands. As it happens, they had seen the same line as I did and were planning to try to climb it. They had already spent some time making the landing safe so I stood back and allowed them to work on the moves and try to send the problem first. After about an hour I checked back and none of them had topped it out, so I put on my shoes and helped them find the beta for the top of the climb, a difficult though very small move from a micro-crimp to the top of the boulder. A fall from this move could be dangerous so it was important to have all the pads and all the spotters ready in case you miss this powerful and balancy move.

In a group of motivated climbers, it's always exciting to see who will get the first ascent of a new problem. Since the Germans had put in most of the effort in making the landing safe, I let them take a few tries, and just as I was about to put my shoes on, Flo stepped up and with a massive scream he stuck the crux second move, powered through the middle section, and dug deep to latch the top of one of the best new problems of the season - Serendipity. The problem got its second ascent just minutes later, when on my first try from the start I also found my way to the top.

Serendipity, at the Base Camp Area.

To be honest, the second ascent of this problem was likely the experience of the trip for me. It came the closest to matching my vision of what I had set out for, and thinking back on it, there are few places in the world where this kind of boulder problem exists.

Shortly after climbing Serendipity, I heard my friend Nalle had managed to rediscover an area he had seen the previous season. Nalle's goals were similar to mine - he wanted to do something new, hard, and special. This line he found eventually became Livin' Large... which I blogged about previously.

Filming Rocklands with the Red One.

Though I continued looking for my own lines, I was happy to focus on filming Nalle on his project and supporting his efforts to succeed on his project. Though Nalle gets the credit for the athletic skill to ascend the problem, I was psyched to have the opportunity to capture the ascent in cinema-quality 4K video on my new video camera.

Another meaningful event during the season was our visit to the Elizabethfontaine Primary School, which is located right in the middle of Rocklands. This Spring we put on movie screenings of my last film, Pure, and we also did an event where Kevin Jorgeson gave an excellent slideshow. Kevin got to see the school for the first time on the trip and he was psyched to have participated in the fundraising. In addition to donating money to the school, we also had a couple hundred toothbrushes and some warm winter hats from Cloudveil that we gave to the teachers in order to distribute to the kids.

This season, we were able to donate even more than we did last year, and with the exchange rate of South African Rand being quite favorable, our donation of 12,000 Rand will help the school on their next project: building a kindergarten. Lots of the kids in the area would benefit from having a grade prior to first grade, where they can learn some basic skills and get up to speed before starting school.

As always, the school looked neat and well-kept. We were treated to a performance of a new dance routine from some of the older students, and they showed us a new garden they had planted recently to be able to grow vegetables to use in the school kitchen. Many of the children wanted to be able to have cabbage soup, but the school could not afford it, so now they have a small, productive cabbage patch that also helps teach the kids about basic farming practices.

Our efforts with the school have not gone unnoticed, and I'm happy to report that other climbers have started to get involved as well. One great idea that recently was implemented was the placement of a donation box in the campground, where departing climbers can leave their unwanted spare change instead of taking it home and forgetting about it. Guy Holwill was working on this project and it's really great for me to see the virus expanding.

This season there was a lot of talk about new access restrictions, permits, closures, impact, and all the other stuff that starts coming up just before an area starts getting shut down. Doing some positive things for the community is a great way to balance the negative impact climbers have on the environment, and ultimately I think my work with the school will be longer-lasting and more important than any first ascent I may accomplish.

Chuck Fryberger

August 20 2009

How much is 7000 Kwh?

2009-08-18T10:31:00.003-06:00

The Enercon e-126 wind turbine.
I just read that the worlds largest wind turbine has been installed in Germany, and the estimated production of the generator is over 7000 Kwh. How much is that? I asked Sarah how many Kilowatt Hours the new climbing gym in Boulder uses, and she said it was designed to use about 14 Kwh.

This means that the Enercon turbine could, by itself, power 500 large commercial buildings... especially those that are designed to be effecient.

The turbine also has adjustable blades that better cope with varrying wind speeds, allowing it to operate efficiently in a variety of conditions. It was also designed to cause minimum harm to bird life, a over-hyped 'downside' of wind generation. Last time I checked, the Exxon Valdez caused a bit of harm to wildlife too.

The interior of Movement Climbing and Fitness in Boulder, CO - A city where I do not live.

I'm finally beginning to feel human again after a long season in Rocklands. I'll have some other posts from the bouldering mecca of the southern hemisphere in the coming days, including an update from the Elizabethfontaine Primary School, where we were able to make another donation this season.

Yesterday was my birthday and today I'm going to Red Rocks to watch Top Gun. Will I dress up like Maverick? AFFIRMATIVE.

Livin Large - Project Real Big Goes Down!

2009-08-06T08:43:00.002-06:00

The Finnish wonder-kid Nalle Hukkataival has, after twelve long days of attempts, finished the amazing project we were calling Project Real Big. Naming it Livin Large and proposing a grade of 8C, this is Nalle's hardest problem to date and his hardest first ascent. The climb now ranks among the most difficult in Rocklands and the entire world.

Livin Large is the single most daunting boulder problem I've ever seen in my entire life.

Nalle Hukkataival

Spirits were low for a little while as we spent day after day gathering the needed pads and spotters and doing the hour-long hike to give the project a handfull of burns at dusk, right when conditions were perfect. Walking home every night empty handed was starting get pretty old, and our political capital was beginning to run pretty thin with everyone we were borrowing pads from. Thanks go out to everyone who contributed by carrying a pad, a tripod, or just their carcass to spot all the way up to the area. Special thanks to Team Norway who let us borrow all their pads on multiple days while Nalle was taking attempts.

Livin Large takes the prominent right arete.

Yesterday the conditions were perfect and after a few tries he managed to get through the powerful moves at the bottom of the problem and hang on all the way through the pumpy finish to complete the problem.

Nalle on Project Real Big during an unsuccessful attempt.

Unsuccess on Project Real Big.

I filmed the entire process of working the problem and the final send with the Red One and the footage is amazing. Nalle picked the best lighting possible for the send - the mark of a true professional. My next video is picking up momentum and I should be able to have a release together for next Spring. Nalle and I are now finishing up our development of the sector, dubbed the Champagne Sector. Today we added a couple new problems and maybe tomorrow some more will go in. The area is looking like it will be a good addition to rocklands and I'm psyched to make my contribution to the area by opening yet another great new sector.

Nalle starts the celebration after the big send. Livin Large!

Cheers from SA

2009-07-30T04:56:00.002-06:00

Rocklands Season!

2009-07-27T02:47:00.002-06:00

Rocklands season is awesome, and one of the people who cant seem to stay away is Cody Roth. This seasom he added several new lines to the area, including the big ships-prow feature in the video frame above. In addition to climbing hard he's also the number one coffee man in the campsite. He even brought a milk-foamer from Austria to make proper capuccino.

The weather is awesome... two days of rain in the last six weeks. I'm climbing a lot now and only pulling out the camera when something big is happening. Yesterday I added a low start to a problem Nalle put up and named it 'The Original Method'. Then Nalle re-named his problem 'The method that was used prior to the original method'. Poll question: can you re-name a problem you put up? I called dab but then we had to go to a Lekker Braii with Team Austria and so the debate ended in favor of beverages and flame-grilled meats.

Cheers from SA

Rocklands

2009-07-10T09:57:00.003-06:00

The season is off to a great start here in Rocklands. I've been ramping up my bouldering and would like to try to tick off some hard problems this season. Jamie sent Shosaloza today which is great for him to be able to send such a world class problem. I'm struggling to get coverage of all the climbing going on down here but it's really fun to be surrounded by energy and talent.

There's some rain in the forecast which brings the streak of good weather to a close, should it hit tomorrow as predicted.

Nalle did a great FA at a new area we're developing called the Beverage Sector. Hard V12 I'd say for this one. The crux move is like a mirror image of Slashface. There are some more good problems to be done and I look forward to some more filming. The photo here is a frame from the video.

Happy sending!

back in Cape Town

2009-06-24T13:31:00.002-06:00

And the little girl at the hostel wants to use my iPhone. Okay ....

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A big Vedauwoo Spread

2009-06-19T10:06:00.002-06:00

Cloudveil ran one of my photos as a 2-page spread in their workbook! Very psyched to see my work in print.

Nalle ate a whole bag of chips.

2009-06-18T10:19:00.000-06:00

And I've got the video to prove it.

Frames from Evans

2009-06-14T10:48:00.003-06:00

Went up to Evans yesterday and caught Paul Robinson on an early repeat of a new problem called Big Worm. Very cool movement considering it's basically just down in a hole.

I've put a couple frames from the video up on my site. A cool shot down by the creek and a shot of Paul right in the thick of the problem. Click on over to my web site, scroll down, grab a frame and check it out:

Grab a frame from the video

Clean Water

2009-06-12T14:56:00.004-06:00

It is now the middle of the rainy season in Ethiopia and I understand from speaking with Ryan at Wine For Water that the villages we visited are now up and running with clean water infrastructure. One of the villages had to completely re-dig a well that we had seen them starting to work on during our visit, but by conservative estimates there are now about 2000 people who have access to clean water that did not have this basic need met as recently as March.

Wine For Water is doing some great work and I'm very proud to be involved with such a well-organized charity. I'm working on cutting a shortened version of the original video as a way to get more people involved and raise awareness.

Wine For Water Website

anxious

2009-06-12T11:33:00.002-06:00

I have nine days before leaving for Africa and a lot to take care of before heading out. Nervous!

DBC - In a word: Awesome

2009-06-11T08:52:00.002-06:00

I have been bogged down with work and unable to get out on the rock for the time being, so I found myself in town yesterday evening for the grand opening of the Denver Bouldering Club. I was very psyched with how the place looks. They skillfully built what is basically the raddest home wall you've ever seen. One thing you won't see here is birthday parties and blind-date top-roping. This is a perfect facility for training to get better at rock climbing. It's a breath of fresh air for me after over a year of having to come up with the motivation to train at Rock'n and Jam'n, which, if you are a boulderer, is neither.

Over the last year I have proposed many ways to make Rock and Jam a better place to boulder, and all my suggestions were roundly ignored - even ones having to do with safety such as 'tighten the holds so I dont land on my neck... again'. But what do they care. I'm just a paying customer.

After seeing the DBC I was reminded of just how cool it can be to have big, simple plywood angles, and enough room so you're not always worried about someone falling on your head.

The only downside of the DBC is the cost. Whereas at Paradise the drop-in bouldering price was $6, the price at the DBC is $15, and you need to be invited by a member - which is basically pricing code for 'non-members are not welcome here'. The membership has an 'initiation fee' of $150 which mystifies me as to the purpose. What about me signing up for a membership costs you $150????? The monthly cost of a membership to the club is expensive compared to Paradise, costing about twice as much for a gym of about 1/6th the size. In the words of the Flight of the Concordes: "What are your overheads?!?!?"

That being said, I was overjoyed to plunk down my money and get a membership at the discounted $75 initiation rate. This simple gym will eventually become the focal point of the Denver bouldering community and I plan to spend lots of time there when I'm not travelling to climb and film.

http://denverboulderingclub.com/

Just edited this

2009-06-08T18:45:00.001-06:00

Big Weekend

2009-06-08T11:27:00.002-06:00

I'm whipped. 15 hours filming for Red Bull on Saturday and then 15 hours filming for a clothing commercial on Sunday. As Usual, Nelson Carayannis was pulling more than his own weight as AC and Camera Operator. My man Kilian made the podium at the world cup amid a very strong field, and we shot three urban sports on sunday without any safety or organizational problems.

The coming months are turning into a traffic jam of projects around here, so I better get back to work.

File this under 'Shot on Red'

2009-06-03T07:02:00.001-06:00

This short video was shot primarily on Red, with Phantom HD cams brought in for the ultra slow-mo stuff with the lightbulbs etc. Check it out!

More Red Testing

2009-06-01T12:52:00.005-06:00

I've been continuing to test the new Red One system. Lots of ins and outs to it but I'm gradually getting used to working with the new format. Today my official Red LCD was delivered, which will help me to better gague exposure values of the footage. Up to (and including the linked footage here) I was using a video monitor that connects to the camera through an auxiliary video feed, and the monitor itself is not top quality so I was having a hard time judging focus and exposure. But now with the real camera data being displayed I should be able to get these settings dialed in a little better.

Click the link here for the latest round of footage, from last weekend. Big thanks to Nelson Carayannis for once again being a very loyal assistant and safety man. We had the red up on a crane for the first time this weekend and it was a bit terrifying, especially as the lightning and rain storms moved in and out of our area, sometimes striking within a mile of where we were located.

Click Here for some Red Footage from Last Weekend on Youtube
(dont forget to watch in HD!)

.

This is what I'm working on right now.

2009-05-28T11:15:00.004-06:00

Single frames from Red One.

And here's the link to the youtube video. Dont forget to watch in HD.

Dont mess with Asher

2009-05-27T09:04:00.005-06:00

Look, just so you know. Never, EVER, mess with Asher. He will kick you in the head over 77 times per minute, setting a new world record and giving you a headache too.

First weekend out with the Red One

2009-05-26T17:27:00.005-06:00

Just got back from my first weekend out with the Red One. In addition to shooting a little climbing I went and filmed a few of my favorite subjects: Wind Turbines. On the way back to Laramie I stopped by the road and got a little footage of some rusty cars. Mostly, this weekend was just a test of the new camera. It has quite a lot of complex options for controlling the images and it will take me a few weeks to really get up to speed with it. I know this much though: I love working with the new format. The quality is something I've never had access to before and it's a really awesome feeling to be working with Hollywood-caliber footage.

I've compressed a short clip and put it on my web site, here: RED DEMO - WYOMING As you watch, keep in mind that the resolution on my web site is 1/16th the native size of the footage.

Below the video there are a few Individual frames you can download at the original full quality if you are curious to see how it looks without any compression. Needless to say, I'm psyched.

Ethiopia Video Launched

2009-05-19T12:24:00.006-06:00

The video from my trip to Ethiopia is finished and ready for viewing. It's about 15 minutes long so make sure you have a little time to view it. I'm proud of the way it turned out and I sincerely hope it helps to promote some awareness for how important it is to have access to clean water.

Click on over to my web site to check out the video.

For more info or to get involved, visit www.WineForWater.org

Flip Someone Off.... For a Good Cause

2009-05-18T07:45:00.005-06:00

Flannnery, the bravest little finger breaker in Denver.
To learn more about her cause, please continue reading.

We've all heard about broken fingers, and the unthinkable damage they can cause to an individual, a family, and a community. Most of us sit around typing, making food, and doing other finger-related activities without even thinking about our ten little workers on our hands, without whom we would be nothing more than mitten-like freaks, unable to turn a page or write with a pencil.

Recently our group of friends has had to deal with the loss of the use of one of our teammates fingers. Flannery Shay-Nemirow currently has a broken middle finger, apparently from climbing too hard. Her finger is currently in a splint, keeping it straight and immobile for a period of five weeks.

The devastation has hit home. How do I get rid of this hollow feeling inside me?

ANNOUNCING.....

FLIP-OFF FOR FLAN!!!!!!
A fun way to raise awareness about broken fingers in America

The goal of Flip-off for Flan is to raise awareness about broken fingers in America, and the hardship they cause. We are encouring everyone for the next five weeks to show solidarity with those who have been hit hardest by this problem and raise your middle finger as a sign that you support Flan and all the other Americans who are living through the everyday challenges of having a broken finger.

Our message is gaining momentum. After only a week of promoting Flip-off for Flan I have recently heard that our message has made it as far as the roads of California, where one of our team saw the secret hand symbol many times driving on the roads of Los Angeles.

Won't you be part of this tsunami of support? Next time you are with a loved one or a stranger, remember to flip them off..... for Flan.

You can flip-off with your friends!

You can flip-off with a hat! Try it! It's fun!

Mike Haugen, Everest-summiter. "This is the most meaningful thing I've ever done. We're here for you Flan."

Even her brother is a supporter, wow, what a sacrifice.

Remember, raising awareness is as easy....

as raising your finger.

It's here

2009-05-14T14:40:00.002-06:00

And it smells great.

After a long wait the Red One is finally here. Cant wait to put this amazing tool to work. More soon.

Sarah's on the Cloudveil Home page... again

2009-05-13T12:04:00.001-06:00

This time an awesome Burr shot from Catavina.

Here's another hint

2009-05-13T11:59:00.001-06:00

Big changes. Big things.

Thoughts on Quality, Vedauwoo, and Mother's Day

2009-05-11T08:47:00.008-06:00

Josh Helke. Owner of Organic Climbing. Corporate Headquarters in background.

I had a great bouldering session on Saturday up at Vedauwoo. We met up with Josh Helke who runs Organic. Josh is a rare breed. A small business owner who employs local folks to make high quality products that last a long time and perform well. Quality is a hard sell to the general public though, when there is so much to gain by impersonating quality with custom-designed materials and techniques that mimic good design like a climbing-shop chameleon. Josh is extremely knowledgable about the supply chain for his materials. I was surprised to learn that a lot of clothing manufacturers have been victimized by off-shore manufacturers who hang genuine YKK zipper pull-tabs on generic zipper chains to cut costs. Or textile suppliers who weave their cordura with a thicker texture in an effort to impersonate the ballistic nylon that Josh and other quality-focused companies source for their products. Has your zipper pull-tab failed recently? It may be the only component on your $400 down jacket that wasn't swapped out for a look-alike.

The R&D team, hard at work.

Sarah and I were ready to go climb, but Josh was busy finishing the stitches on a new shoulder strap. It took about five minutes and Josh had in his hands a fully-functional new shoulder-strap prototype for Sarah to test during the day. Sarah and I both watched as Josh threaded it into a new crash pad, also recently sewn. We both just stared and then at the exact same time said "WHOA..... YOU JUST MADE THAT."

Josh Helke, getting ready to go CLIMB!!!!

We went out to Vedauwoo and I was able to establish one new problem, a very nice compression boulder that climbs out a large feature for about 15 feet. Unlike a lot of the bouldering at Vedauwoo you could actually climb on this problem all day without ripping holes in your skin. I climbed the compression line and called it Donald Trump because I think it's doing pretty well. I tried a very difficult variation that starts under the lip and climbs directly out the roof, but I didn't have the guns to pull into a massive undercling. I'd love to go back and have another crack at this line.

Donald Trump. Climbs from a sit out the prow to an obvious top-out up the aligator-back feature.

Josh showed us a new problem called The Perfect which starts with an awesome jump to an open-handed sloper. It's so good I had to do it twice.

The Perfect

Sunday was mothers day and this photo pretty much sums that action up:

A New Addition to the Family

2009-05-08T16:14:00.003-06:00

There's some changes happening around Chuck Fryberger Films.
Please turn up the amplitude of your audio playback system...

Here's a hint of what's to come:

More updates soon.

New Shooter on the Scene

2009-05-08T11:02:00.002-06:00

I just got off the phone with a gentleman named Brant Hawkins. He recently quit college to shoot video so that makes him okay in my book. Nalle had told me that there was a guy doing some filming in Hueco and now I know who it was. Brant has a great video of Nalle on the FA of the Machinist. Check it out here:

Nalle Hukkataival - The Machinist

WORD!