Marmot Photoshoot - City of Rocks, ID

What better way to "train" for another season in the Himalaya (I leave in 2 weeks) than climbing stellar granite in the high desert in Idaho. The City of Rocks has been one of my favorite places to rock climb ever since I moved West, and this trip has been no exception. I was lucky enough to be sent out rock climbing by Marmot, along with Beth Rodden, Ian Boyer, Kami Hardcastle and photographer Ace Kvale and filmmaker Sinuhe Xavier. 

For the past few days we've been running around the City, climbing granite cracks, steep bolted faces, and loving the chill camping spots hidden amongst the rock formations. Nights have been filled with stellar star-scapes, loads of shooting stars as we get close to the main Perseid meteor shower, campfires, and big dinners of burritos, Thai curries, and pasta. Ace and Sinuhe have been shooting loads of film and stills, with all of us kitted out in Marmot's 2011 line of clothing and backpacks. The gear looks and performs great!

We'll be here for two more days of climbing, and I'll post some photos and video when I get back to a decent internet connection. For now, it's back to my favorite type of high altitude mountaineering training - rock climbing on sunny granite!

-Adrian Ballinger