BlueWater Ropes blog

Pra Caramba

2012-01-26T10:47:00.001-08:00

Wow was this really almost three years ago...yes it was, but the film is finally free to the public, thanks to iclimb who is giving the film away as an HD download! Pra Caramba marks the birth of my passion for filmmaking and had it's world premiere at the Boulder Adventure Film Festival!

SAM ELIAS ON RED BULL AND VODKA M11

2012-01-11T21:09:00.000-08:00

Watch Sam Elias one of the world's best mixed climbers, ninja his way up Red Bull and Vodka an impressive Mixed climb on Vail Pass that ventures out and endless stretch of gymnastic, tiered roof madness! The climb overhangs over fifty feet in a hundred and twenty, and finishes on the Fang, one of the most iconic ice climbs in the world.

Shortly after this was filmed, Sam Elias onsighted Direct King Cobra. Which at M11 is one of the hardest Mixed climbs in the world. Sam Used the 9.2mm Dominator, to keep him light and to reduce rope drag on this epic odyssey of a climb.

RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE: Part Two, The Dream Climb

2011-12-18T20:55:00.000-08:00

Holy smokes we fixed eight hundred feet of rope and it it got jumared and rained on... hard, and when we pulled the ropes at the end of the adventure... they were still good as new!

After managing to climb the unclimbed north Dragons's Horn, we rested for a few days and then headed up for a new route on the steeper and more impressive South Dragon's Horn. Follow Lucho and I as we establish one of the Best Climbs of Our Lives!

Big Thanks to Tanoshi Lodge for feeding us and housing us during the adventure.

If you find our adventure compelling or entertaining, please donate even just a dollar in the name of our climb to Big City Mountaineers, so that urban teens can get the chance the get out on their first wilderness adventures! GO TO SUMMIT FOR SOMEONE TO DONATE!!!!

Special thanks to The North Face who is matching dollar for dollar the first 4000 we can raise for Big City Mountaineers, and Five Ten, Blue Water Ropes, Clif Bar, Backcountry.com, and Black Diamond for their additional support.

RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE, Part One: The Unclimbed Horn

2011-11-30T23:35:00.000-08:00

Hello Bluewater lovers!! Man did I put my dominator to the test in Malaysia this October, and I have to say the double dry held up Remarkably well to the endless rainy climbing! Here is the low down!!!

After a whirlwind three day travel sequence Lucho and I found ourselves on Tioman Island staring up at the mythical "Dragon's Horns." It was hard to believe that only one of the huge jungle spires had been climbed...until we started the approach...then it made more sense. But after some epic jungle bushwhacking which culminated with me being attacked by giant hummingbird sized wasps, we somehow managed to find our way to the base, and miraculously summited the unclimbed Dragon's Horn on our first full day on the island. The route "Tanoshi Buttress" was a classic 5.10x adventurefest!!! We topped out at night and endured a shiver bivy until about two a.m. when an an impending lightning storm encouraged us to rappel at night. I hope this short video captures some of the magic of our Experience.

We are raising money in the name of our climb for Big City Mountaineers, an awesome program that gets under resourced teens into the wilderness. Programs like these are close to mine and Lucho's hearts and we'd really appreciate even a couple dollars donated in our names.... find out more at SUMMIT FOR SOMEONE

Special Thanks to the folks at Tanoshi Lodge for making our stay a stylish one.

We brought two cameras up the climb with us, a tm900 and a gh2, and I shot some of the timelapses with my 5dii. Hopefully you like my edit and original music.

The Denali Experiment

2011-11-20T17:49:00.001-08:00

As promised here is the complete 15 edit: Free-ride skier Sage Cattabriga-Alosa and big mountain snowboarder Lucas Debari step out of their elements and make an attempt to climb, ski and snowboard Denali. Sage and Lucas get a helping hand from a huge cast of seasoned and professional climbers and ski mountaineers from the North Face Athlete Team, including Hilaree O’Neill, Conrad Anker, Ingrid Backstrom, Jim Zellers, Emilio Previtali and Giulia Monego, as the two embark on the hardest expedition of their lives.

Although I was still injured during this expedition, it was an honor to get a chance to tell the story and live vicariously through the footy during my recovery. With eight characters and lots of possible story-lines it was one the most challenging pieces I have worked on to date!

We are lucky to be able to share it this way, it's true 'experiment' for in terms of how how many people will have the attention span to watch the whole thing online :) Hopefully it does well, so we can keep it coming! Thanks for watching, ~renan

a CAMP 4 COLLECTIVE production
Director : Jimmy Chin
Cinematographers : Jimmy Chin, Matt Irving, Adam Clark
Editor: Renan Ozturk
Motion Graphics: Barry Thompson, Eric Bucy, Mary Blumen
Additional Media: Teton Gravity Research, Absinthe Films, Colby Coombs, Renan Ozturk
Color: Anson Fogel

ARI Equipper of the Year.

2011-10-07T10:18:00.000-07:00

Bluewater believes in the importance of keeping our crags safe, and is a proud sponsor of Climbing Magazine's Industry supported organization ARI the Anchor Replacement initiative. This year gave out an Equipper of the Year award which included prizes such as a bluewater rope.

MINI DAWGZ_THE MOVIE_TENSLEEP_2011

2011-08-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of spending a week in Ten Sleep Wyoming with young up and coming climber Stefan Lavender. He brought his two mini-dogs Wentworth, and Nemo, and I brought along my pug Gus. I also brought along the new GH2 camera and the Noktor ƒ0.95 Lens to test them out. Still love the 5d, but I like the GH2 a lot too. As usual, the music is mine... if you like this song, available here http://cedarwright.blogspot.com/

The Tooth Traverse

2011-07-31T20:37:00.001-07:00

This piece is comprised of some of the attempts Zack Smith , Freddie Wilkinson and myself have put into the 'Tooth Traverse' of the Ruth Gorge, AK.

There has been a log going on surrounding our adventures: The 1st attempt was heavily embarked upon only days after the memorial for the deaths of our close friends vimeo.com/5065432, the 2nd attempt ended with helping with body recoveries of other climbers in the gorge and the just before our proposed launch day this past spring I almost died in a skiing accident.

Beyond the allure of enchaining one of the most iconic [& untrodden] skylines in NA the Tooth Traverse has come to represent so much more than that to us. With my healing going well and the inspiration (and angst) greater than ever we are planning another attempt in the NEAR future.

I see the eventual story breaching some pretty heavy topics involved in alpine climbing: sponsored vs. non-sponsored expeditions, dealing with death and the effect tackling dangerous objectives has on friends/family.

At any rate here is a little window into our work in progress. ~reo

Our Anthem

2011-04-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

BlueWater traces its roots to a family-owned business that began manufacturing ropes and cordage in 1903. Our modern history began in 1969 when we manufactured the first American-made kernmantle caving rope.

Cuba Chapter 4_The Life of Leo

2011-04-20T13:03:00.001-07:00

A story about one of the dedicated Cuban cranksters of vinales. This was my most favorite piece fo the series. I shot this piece and climbed the entire trip on a 9.4 hylite which one of the best ropes I've ever used. When I showed this piece to the guys at BlueWater they were moved to the point of sending Leo and his friend some cords to fuel their passion. This just goes to show how supportive bluewater is to the climbing community! Thanks for tuning in, ~reo

Cuba Chapter_4_The Life of Leo from renan ozturk on Vimeo.

Cuba Chapter 3_The Competition

2011-04-18T08:40:00.000-07:00

Another installment of the Cuba series. Thanks for following! ~reo

Cuba Chapter 3_The Competition from renan ozturk on Vimeo.

music recorded on location

Cuba Chapter2_Enter Vinales

2011-04-03T16:29:00.001-07:00

Psyched to share the next chapter of the Cuba installments...this is first glimpse of the climbing! As always, thanks for checking it! ~reo

Cuba Chapter 2_Enter Vinales from renan ozturk on Vimeo.

Music Recorded On Location

THE CUBA ADVENTURE BEGINS

2011-03-10T08:57:00.000-08:00

Hey All,

So psyched be able to share some stories here on the bluewater blog. I'll be releasing a series on a recent adventure to Cuba that will be 5 parts by the end. This was a down to earth soul trip...just good old sport climbing and cultural exploration! Enjoy and thanks for checking them out!

Cheers,

Renan (new member of the bluewater climbing team!)

CUBA CHAPTER .5_getting there from renan ozturk on Vimeo.

A little precursor to a new adventure in Cuba-->A few weeks off the grid climbing and checking out the culture with no phone or internet.

1 5d, 1 pair of climbing shoes and a pair of flip flops...here we go!

MUSIC: http://www.diagramcollective.com/

CUBA CHAPTER 1_Havana City Bustle from renan ozturk on Vimeo.

music recorded on location

NEPAL 2011_KHUMBU CLIMBING SCHOOL_NAMASTE

2011-03-03T16:16:00.000-08:00

Namaste translates as the "inner light in me salutes the inner light in you", or "Hi."

This is a two hour speed edit that captures the vibe of the Khumbu Climbing School, that I put together to show the students on their graduating night.

If this piques your curiosity, please check out Their Mission Statement

Moonlight Dreams

2010-12-02T10:47:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago I had the extreme pleasure of repeating Moonlight as a free climb. Moonlight buttress is probably the single best sandstone bigwall freeclimb in the world and to manage to scrap up it first try no falls was one of the highlights of my year, and sharing it with my bride to be made it even more special.

Rocky Mountain Highline

2010-11-10T08:33:00.001-08:00

About a month ago, Andy Lewis, or "Sketchy Andy" called me up and said he had a "sick" highline set up up above Estes. Andy Lewis is one of the best slackliners in the world and had recently walked the longest Highline ever... so I figured it might be fun to go up for a couple hours and test out my new 5d mark ii camera. I headed up with my good friend Timmy O'Neil and had a great time scaring the crap out of myself on the line and getting a few shots as well!!

Yosemite in a Day

2010-09-29T10:46:00.000-07:00

I was invited to give a presentation at the Yosemite Facelift 2010, a park wide clean up event originally started by climbers and spearheaded by Ken Yager. The Facelift is now the largest National Park clean up in the country and has moved beyond just climbers to people from all walks of life!!! For my last few slideshows, I have showed up a day early to shoot and edit a short video that I show as part of my presentation. I feel like it's a unique and original element of my show, and people are psyched to see something created in real time! However, the amount of work that this entails is pretty ridiculous, and usually at around Five A.M. after a sleepless night of editing, I swear that I will never do it again. This particular "In A Day" installment features some of Yosemites Top "Unheard Of" climbers, an overview of the Facelift, and then, Yosemites Best Climber crushing blood from the stone!!! Blue Water is a Proud Sponsor of the Yosemite Face Lift

Boogie 'til You Poop

2010-08-04T08:19:00.000-07:00

While shooting my Squamish in a Day video, Jason Kruk got his knee stuck in a 5.11 offwidth called "Boogie 'til You Puke," and required a rescue. Luckily Andrew Burr was there shooting stills while I shot video and switched his 5d to video mode to capture me in rescue mode... in what is perhaps the most horrific and hilarious climbing experience I have ever witnessed first hand. By this end of this short movie, you should understand why the climb is now officially renamed "Boogie 'til You Poop!"

Squamish in a Day....eh!!!

2010-07-19T08:30:00.000-07:00

This summer I had the pleasure of giving a presentation at the Squamish Mountain Film Festival and arrived a day early to do some shooting with the perhaps overly ambitious idea of presenting an original climbing film that I shot and cut in a day. It turned out to be a lot of work and I literally didn't sleep for a night to get this ready for the show, but everyone was super psyched to see a slice of their home area presented to them in near real time. This movie features Jason Kruk, Will Stanhope, Tommy Caldwell, and Hazel Findlay crushing Squamish's world class stone!!! Hope you enjoy it!!!

Total Eclipse_The Australia Dispatch

2010-06-14T11:18:00.001-07:00

The Reviews are in and they are great! "The single greatest climbing music video to Total Eclipse ever created." "A new level for all other Movie Makers to strive for, and yet inevitably fail to achieve." "A work of pure unadulterated Genius." "The feel good climbing movie of the year!" ...Strap on your seat belts folks....this is going to be SICK!!! Stay tuned for the full story in this year's Reel Rock Tour courtesy of Sender Films. There's a reason they call it God's own stone!

Arms Bazaar with Nellie Milfeld

2010-05-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

In an era of sport climbers, and boulderers, Boulder Local Nellie Milfeld stands out as a talented and bold traditional climber. This short movie is brought to you by BlueWater Ropes, and features blue water athlete Nellie crushing "Arms Bazaar" a 5.12aR at Bells Buttress in Boulder Colorado.

"Vegas Gold" an Ascent of Desert Gold 5.13a

2010-03-27T21:29:00.000-07:00

Made it down to Vegas for the Red Rock Rendezvous, and then afterward made it up to Desert Gold, one of the most difficult and beautiful cracks in Red Rocks.

Arkansas in a Day

2010-03-07T11:40:00.000-08:00

It turns out that the climbing and scene in Arkansas is not to be missed...I highly recommend a visit to Horseshoe Ranch, one of the most unique climber camps in the country. Today I was too knackered to climb, but I got to shoot a 38 special...that was different!!!

This march I headed out to Arkansas to give a presentation with Jeremy Collins for the American Alpine Club. I showed up a day early to get some climbing in and brought my GH1 to play with. I shot and edited this piece in a day, so that I could show the video at the beginning of my presentation....I was literally doing color correction and compressing an hour before I went on!!! People were psyched to see their home area on the big screen!

Aguja Guillaumet, Patagonia

2010-02-14T22:25:00.000-08:00

After waiting out the storm climbers Camilo Lopez , Anna Pfaff and some friends climb Aguja Guillaumet Located south of Fitz Roy in Patagonia, Argentina. Camilo and Anna have been living the dream and tearing it up at locations around the world....stay tuned for more to come from this prolific duo!

How Ropes Are Made BlueWater HQ

2010-01-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

If you've ever wondered how ropes are made...this should give you a pretty good idea of what a complex and high-tech operation it is to create a dynamic lead line, or a piece of webbing. BlueWater traces its roots to a family-owned business that began manufacturing ropes and cordage in 1903. Our modern history began in 1969 when we manufactured the first American-made kernmantle caving rope. In 1975 we introduced the first synthetic low elongation rope for fire and industrial high-rise rescue. We followed in 1982 with the first commercially available line of UIAA certified dynamic climbing ropes made in the U.S.A. These ropes rapidly gained popularity with climbers due to their unsurpassed quality and performance.

BLIND AND NAKED

2010-01-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys!!! Cedar Here!! So I am pleased to present this short piece that I created for the Access Fund. A few weeks ago I filmed Erik Weihenmayer Climbing the legendary Naked Edge in Eldo Canyon. What's special about that....well for those of you who haven't heard about Erik...he is blind and probably most famous for his historical ascent of Mt. Everest. This is one of the most inspiring feats of climbing I have ever witnessed first hand and I am so psyched for you all to see it...Cheers... Enjoy and please, please join the Access Fund by clicking this link.

Back To The Roots: Indian Creek 5.13a F.A. of M.D.M.C.P. 09

2009-12-18T15:19:00.001-08:00

Man was it great to get back down to Indian Creek over Thanks Giving!! Indian Creek has always been one of my favorite climbing areas, and it felt like coming home as I rolled Beef Basin with my good friend Nick Martino. Over the years I've been lucky to put up some classic First Ascents in the Creek that buck the trend of the straight in splitter and offer up more complex esoteric climbing. My most recent foray into the unknown continued with this trend. Nick and I were lucky to establish our new route over a few days and headed back to Boulder psyched on our little dose of adventure. We both lead the crux pitch, and I managed to onsight the wild twenty five foot roof on the third pitch by the skin of my teeth. We named the route the "Micah Dash Memorial Choss Pile" in honor of our good friend Micah Dash who was lost in the mountains of China this year. I think he would have appreciated the tongue-in-cheek name, which as it turns out is not a choss pile at all!! Micah loved the creek and was always good for a laugh and a quality shit talking session around the fire. Well...Enjoy everyone. Happy Holidays!! Cedar Wright.

"Corazon De Mallorca"

2009-11-18T22:56:00.000-08:00

If you are lucky enough to experience the extreme pleasure of a deep water soloing sojourn to Mallorca, there is a good chance you will meet deep water solo pioneer, Miquel Riera, a veritable living legend. Miquel is one of the coolest guys you could ever hope to meet, with an undying psyche for climbing, women, and partying. I followed Miquel around one day for a trip off the beaten path. This was perhaps the most intimidating day of the trip with rough waters and virgin rock!!! Enjoy the latest Psicoblog. Cheers. Cedar

THE ADVENTURE FILM FESTIVAL

2009-10-27T14:05:00.000-07:00

WOOHOOOO Renan and I have both had our original films selected for the Adventure Film Festival in Boulder Colorado!!! We are honored to have made the cut with over 300 films screened! This will the world premiere for my short film "Pra Caramba" that features the best footage you never saw from Brazil!!! Renan's award winning film about suffering in the center of the universe is called SAMSARA. If you have the time we'd really appreciate you coming out for the festival. Adventurefilm.org

CONRAD ANKER "A DAY IN THE LIFE"

2009-10-25T23:38:00.000-07:00

This is a short "Day in the Life" video that follows Blue Water Athlete Conrad Anker out for his first time up "The Naked Edge" in Eldorado Canyon, one of the most classic multi pitch 5.11s in Colorado. Conrad has been pushing the limits of Adventure for the last 30 years and is now becoming a fervent advocate of environmental and social responsibility. This piece was created by Renan Ozturk for Black Diamond, but that he was kind enought to share it with us...so enjoy Renan's unique and funky editing and shooting style!!!

"Rocky Mountain High"

2009-10-25T17:26:00.000-07:00

Earlier this summer I climbed the Petit Grepon up in Estes Park, with my good friend and legendary climbing photographer John Dickey. I put together the perfect kit to shoot the climb, complete with my sweet new GH1 video camera, and then realized when we had gotten to the base that I had forgotten the battery!!! With no other option I shot the climb with Dickey's less than HD point and shoot, but I still think the end result is worth three minutes of vicarious adventure. Cheers!! Cedar.

"SHIVERER BIVERING" The F.A. of Gorillas in the Mist

2009-10-12T22:00:00.001-07:00

So my good buddy Jens Holsten who lives up in Washington just sent me some cool footage which I edited into this short video...this is what he had to say. "This is from a first ascent I just completed on Mt. Stuart-Washington’s largest non-volcanic peak. Myself, along with friends Sol Werkin and Blake Herrington, climbed Gorrillas in the Mist in poor conditions and found ourselves lost on the upper mountain, rime ice forming all around us. Even though all of us have shivered through nights in different parts of the globe, this night was the coldest ever…and on a peak I have climbed so many times. Pretty funny. The cool thing is that we stuck out the night and got a great summit the next morning. It’s crazy how fast you forget all the suffering."

TOMMY CALDWELL "A DAY IN THE LIFE"

2009-09-22T01:58:00.000-07:00

So about a month ago I headed up into Rocky Mountain national park to follow Tommy Caldwell around for a typical day on his training schedule. Right now Tommy is training super hard for a free ascent of the nearly blank Mescalito Wall, which if he can pull it off will arguably be the hardest bigwall free climb in the world. If you have ever wondered what makes the hardest El Cap free climber in the world tick, this will give you a good idea of Tommy's training regimen, but also, his passion for the climbing life, and good natured character!

MALLORCA PSICOBLOG!!!

2009-09-08T23:55:00.000-07:00

So while I work on the Tommy Video here is a short piece I put together for The North Face that features some wild Deep Water Soloing in Mallorca where I am residing currently...cheers hope you like it!!! Cedar.

Chasing After Adventure with Ana Pfaff

2009-09-07T14:47:00.000-07:00

For the last couple of years, blue Water Athlete Ana Pfaff along with her climbing and life partner Camilo Lopez, have been chasing after alpine adventure in some of the most remote and severe mountain ranges of the world. This short slideshow clearly demonstrates what a motivated, prolific and all around bad ass climber Ana is!!! Stay tuned for a short video that I shot about a week ago which captures a day in the life of BlueWater Athlete and living legend...Tommy Caldwell. Enjoy your journey...Cheers. Cedar Wright

"Ten Sleep Wyoming, a Sport Climbers Frontier!!"

2009-08-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

"Sierra's Story"

2009-08-04T18:57:00.001-07:00

This is your chanse to get to know BlueWater Athlete Sierra Blair-Coyle better, and hear about how she got started climbing and what she sees her self doing in the future. Stay tuned for more blogs featuring other Blue Water Athletes, as well as promising up and coming talent from around the globe.

"The Competitor's Spirit" with Sierra Blair-Coyle

2009-07-27T18:01:00.000-07:00

While only fifteen years old, Bluewater Athlete Sierra Blair-Coyle is one of the top female competitive boulderers in the world, and I had the pleasure of filming her as she crushed her way to fourth place against a field of adult competitors! Nice work Sierra!!!

"Brazil Highline"

2009-07-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

Set up this killer slackline in Brazil...and then after a few days of practice...I walked it sans leash...free solo...just me the sky and a head full of focus!!!

"The Spoils"

2009-07-15T19:35:00.000-07:00