Welcome to the Planetclimber blog, stories from climbing around the world, from indoor halls to big mountains. And active volcanoes! The Planetclimber has climbed in 25 countries, in a total of 80 places. You can also click on a map below to see where in the world they took place.
The Planetclimber articles appeared originally in the Blogspot Planetskier series, at TGR posts, or at the Relaa website. See also the articles about skiing, caving, urban exploration, cycling, flying, swimming, and saunas.
All climbing-related articles:
| Jasná Nízke Tatry - Chopok Our second day of skiing in Slovakia was on Jasná Nízke Tatry, also called Chopok. Chopok is the name of the 2024 meter peak by the highest lift station, few meters lower at 2004 meters. I did climb to the peak as well, going up was easy but coming down was treacherous as it was quite icy. And speaking of ice ... I think either my skis were a bit off sharpness, or the slopes were extremely ice. Actually maybe both. It was difficult to control speed on the steep black runs from the top. Full story (TGR version) January 2023, Jasná Nízke Tatry - Chopok ski area, Demänovská Dolina, Slovakia; Chopok, Horná Lehota, Slovakia Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| Mali Kozjak hike Mali Kozjak is a mountain ridge in Split, Croatia. Near the airport, in fact. I had seen this on a previous trip, and it looked interesting... was there a hike? After perusing through the Wikilocs and Starves of the world, and some (maybe not enough) local advice, it seemed like there's a nice walk up via the Planinarski Dom Putalj mountain hut. I chose to hike up a bit further north so that I could descend to the hut. But boy did that generate some headache! Full story (TGR version) June 2022, Planinarski Dom Putalj, Kaštel Sućurac, Croatia; Svrka Sv. Luka, Blaca, Croatia; Veli Vrj radar station, Vučevica, Croatia; Orlovo gnijezdo - Planinarsko sklonište, Kaštel Kambelovac, Croatia; Gojača Beach, Kaštel Sućurac, Croatia Climbing (Mountain); Hiking; Urban-Exploration (Military, Buildings); Swimming (Water, Waterbody-Sea, Beach) | |
| Make the trip to the airport count Conference is over, time to head to the airport. How about an early wakeup, and trying to make the trip count as something interesting? I headed to the hotel sauna, then hit slopes in Semmering (one hour away), climbed and lidar-scanned a couple of caves, and still had time to check the apres ski in St. Corona ski resort :-) There was none. Full story (TGR version) March 2022, Hilton Vienna Park, Vienna, Austria; Semmering, Austria; St. Corona, Austria; Semmeringhalbhöhle, Semmering, Austria; Schrägaufzughöhle, Semmering, Austria Sauna (Normal); Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Caving (Rock, Basic, Surveying, Rock-Limestone); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| Massive crack cave at Korkberget Korkberget is probably Finland's largest cave, with 300+ meters of tight tunnels underneath massive boulders. But, there's also a cliff... and if you climb half-way up the cliff, you will find an amazing crack that leads underground. Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) August 2019, Korkbergetin halkeamaluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic); Climbing (Rock) | |
| Swim at the Castel Gandolfo On our last day of the Italian tour, Janne and I drove to Lago Albano, an old volcanic crater that is now filled with water. On the rim of the crater you can find Castel Gandolfo, one of most beautiful Italian towns, the Pope's summer cottage, and wonderful views. Full story August 2018, Lago Albano, Castel Gandolfo, Italy Swimming (Outdoor, Water, Waterbody-Lake, Beach); History; Climbing (Volcanoes) | |
| Vesuvius Went to see the Vesuvius crater with Janne, quite interesting and of course the source of many sad fates in destroyed cities around. Overdue for eruption, too. Full story July 2018, Vesuvius, Naples, Italy; Small cave at the Vesuvius, Naples, Italy Climbing (Mountain); Caving (Rock, Rock-Volcanic, Morphology-Boulders, Basic) | |
| Biking to Mont Royal In my series of biking in the world's cities: Montreal. And visiting Mount Royal for the views and nice park experience. I particularly like the lake on the backside. Full story July 2018, Mont Royal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Biking (Outdoor, Bike-City, Track-City, Track-Road, Track-Trail); Climbing (Volcanoes) | |
| Skiing San Marino... on the rocks countries_skied++; San Marino! Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) July 2018, Cesta, Monte Titano, San Marino, San Marino Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| Training for Vertical Caving For the last two days, I've had the opportunity to be trained for techniques that are needed to traverse vertical cave shafts. Full story June 2018, Myllypuron Urheiluhalli, Helsinki, Finland Caving (Man-Made); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| GoExpo Freeskiing, Nalle Hukkataival, and Catherine Destivelle I visited the "GoExpo" this weekend, the merge of previously separate Vapaalaskuiltamat (Freeskiing Festival), Helsinki Adventure Night, and SkiExpo. Full story November 2017, Messukeskus, Helsinki, Finland Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| Sacred Cave Sacred cave. Sacred place. Secret place. This place has suffered, but is still sacred for those who believe in it. Full story November 2017, Sacred cave, Nevada, USA Caving (Rock, Morphology-Erosion, Basic); Climbing (Mountain); Urban-Exploration (Historic-Sites) | |
| Over- and underground walk I ended up going around Kauniainen's Gallträsk as my activity today. The day had been sunny, but the night wasn't bad either, nice evening views. I also included the underground sports arena on my tour, and got to walk long tunnels and stop by the climbing wall in the tunnels as well. Full story March 2017, Gallträsk, Kauniainen, Finland Walking; Climbing (Wall) | |
| Breithorn, 4164m Third time's a charm! I finally managed to ski down from Breithorn. Two failed attempts... and what a wonderful third one, with a high speed ski run down. So much fun to pass the climbers on a long trek, me going at 80 km/h while screaming from the top of my lungs as I passed them :-) Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) August 2016, Breithorn, Zermatt, Switzerland Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| Paraguay on Miniskis Have skis, can carry snow, will ski anything. First descent of Paraguay's highest mountain, Cerro Tres Kandu. Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) April 2016, Cerro Tres Kandu, Paraguay Climbing (Mountain); Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts) | |
| Broken Ribs I had an accident on a horse, skiing an ancient volcano in Africa. As people do. Broken ribs and a horseshoe-shaped bruise on my side. But I did manage to ski the remaining ski areas in Morocco. And ski down with the broken ribs. Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) March 2016, Michlifen, Ifrane, Morocco; Jbel Habri, Ifrane, Morocco Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Hiking, Horse); Climbing (Mountain, Volcanoes); Riding | |
| The Ultimate Frustration What's the point of working so hard that you cannot do the things you love? I feel like I'm far too busy. To add insult to the injury, this week I'm visiting one of the greatest ski destinations in the world, Sapporo, but there isn't yet any snow, and even if there were, I would not have time to go to the mountains. Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) October 2015, Mt. Moiwa, Sapporo, Japan Skiing (Outdoor, Grass); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| Riders of the Lost Arenales There are references to it in the Internet. And a sole road sign point to it. But it is nowhere to be found. Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) August 2015, Los Arenales, Araucania, Chile Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| Volcán Villarica That moment when you realise that the ski area you were going to ski at next week is closed due to the volcano erupting. The obvious next question is, of course, if I was packing skins. Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) August 2015, Ski Pucón, Villarica, Chile Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| OpenStreetMap When skiing or hiking at a new place, suitable maps are essential. These maps can be hard to come by, however, and most GPS maps do not contain information about walking paths, ski slopes or lifts. OpenStreetMap, however, has a lot of good information, and I have been using it in off-piste skiing, finding ski areas, and hiking around the world. Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) August 2015, Los Arenales, Araucania, Chile Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain); Urban-Exploration (Ski-Lifts) | |
| Bunker Bouldering A blown-up bunker. Debris. Darkness. Bats. Concrete rising to the heights. Walls hanging where they should not be. An ideal climbing place, if it wasn't for the grim past of this place and the morbid pictures of soldiers. Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) June 2015, Humboldthain Flaktürme, Berlin, Germany Climbing (Wall); Caving (Man-Made); Urban-Exploration (Bunkers) | |
| Honolulu Week and a half in Hawaii in a meeting, properly dressed. For some reason people stared when I visited the beach. Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) May 2015, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA Skiing (Outdoor, Sand); Surfing; Climbing (Mountain); Hiking | |
| London Ice Climbing Have ice axe. Will travel to London to go ice climbing. My cab driver thinks that is the weirdest thing he has heard his customers do. I think that if it is true, then his rides have been pretty boring. Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) May 2015, Vertical Chill, London, United Kingdom Climbing (Ice); Urban-Exploration (Buildings) | |
| Skiing Africa... by Mule Avalanche pack, check. Skis, check. Mule, check. I am sitting on a mule, on my way to the ski slopes in Oukaïmeden in the Atlas mountains of Morocco. Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) February 2015, Oukaïmeden, Morocco Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain); Urban-Exploration (Ski-Lifts, Buildings) | |
| Sandhill My friend Patrick (see his "Mad Pat" blog) told me about this magical place in Ontario. Sandhill. He had conquered its steep sand slopes. And now I was on my way to Toronto and wanted to see if I can repeat the experience. Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) August 2014, Sandhill, Ontario, Canada Skiing (Outdoor, Sand); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| Volcano Camping The summit ridge lights up, seemingly rising to the sky. The sunrise is about to start. I forget the cold night and the two vertical kilometers of climbing to get here. It is a magical moment to be at the top. I had not realised it would be possible to see the entire island of Bali in one view, as if I was in space. Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) November 2013, Gunung Agung, Bali, Indonesia Climbing (Mountain); Skiing (Outdoor, Rock, Sand, Ash) | |
| Sarcophilus Satanicus Sarcophilus Satanicus. Satanic meat lover. Better know as the Tasmanian Devil. We did all we could to ski with the devil, like we did with the kangaroo, but alas, it was not to be. Turns out the devil is in trouble. The numbers of this previously common animal are down at least 80% and maybe as much as 99% from 1990s, due to a mysterious infectious cancer. Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) November 2013, Tasmanian Devil Unzoo, Tasmania, Australia; Ben Lomond, Tasmania, Australia; Mt. Mawson, Tasmania, Australia Travel; Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| Adventures of the Snowboard I don't know if I should classify this as gear testing or as new angle into a previous story. I have some new footage from my Krakatau trip, and it should give you an idea of what my snowboard went through. Yes, I bought it bought used. Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) (Svenskt version) September 2013, Anak Krakatau, Indonesia Climbing (Mountain); Snowboarding (Ash, Rock, Sand) | |
| Bad Snow Year in Africa Grass. Sun. Lonely wilderness. 4x4 transport. You would expect to find those in Africa. And I did. But I also found mountains, a ski area, olympic athletes, and snow. And the highest bar in South Africa. I'm in Tiffindell, South Africa's only ski area that re-opened this year, after being closed for a couple of years. Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) July 2013, Tiffindel, South Africa Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain); Afterski | |
| Skiing on the Equator Headache. Nausea. I have them, but high winds and icy rain are the main culprits for the failure to reach the glacier. No one in the refuge dares to venture higher. The estimated 80 km/h winds would be dangerous on that initial steep rock climb. Particularly with skis on the backpack acting as sails. Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) (Svenskt version) June 2013, Cayembe, Ecuador Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| Riders of the Lost Ash Sunshine. Waves. Jungle. +35C. Weekend alone on a tropical island, with nothing else to do than to listen to the wind and sea. And walk on black sand, or tease the two-meter lizards away from my tent. Wait. Black sand? Giant lizards? What kind of story is this? Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) March 2013, Anak Krakatau, Indonesia Snowboarding (Ash, Rock, Sand); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| Raisio by Snowboard Vuokatti, Flagstaff, and Raisio: my last three Sundays. I'm definitely on a path to visit the major cities in the world. And it is a grey, rainy day. Snow is heavy, the landscape is flat, and industrial Raisio will not be winning any beauty contests any time soon. Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) February 2013, Raisio, Finland; Samppalinnan vuori, Turku, Finland; Kauniainen ski hill, Kauniainen, Finland Snowboarding (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| USA vs. Finland I am on my way to Stone Summit, America's largest indoor climbing wall. My mission is to see how it compares to my local climbing hall, Toyota Kiipeilyareena back in Finland. Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) November 2012, Stone Summit, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Kiipeilyareena, Helsinki, Finland Climbing (Wall) |
Finland vs. USA on Big Wall Climbing from The Planetskier on Vimeo. |
| Volcan Copahue So close, yet so far. I wanted so much to ski down from Volcán Copahue (2953 meters), but despite trying very hard it was not going to happen. Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) August 2012, Caviahue, Argentina Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain); Urban-Exploration (Ruins, Buildings); Swimming (Outdoor, Thermal-Bath, Water, Waterbody-Lake) | |
| Climbing Volcanoes We are trying hard to reach the summit in time. But we are late. 350 million years late, to be exact. This volcano stopped breathing before the dinosaurs came to life. Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) July 2012, Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom; Mt. Pinatubo, Philippines; Etna, Italy; Stromboli, Sicily, Italy Climbing (Mountain) | |
| Ice Climbing in Espoo. In June. It is Sunday, +10 degrees, raining heavily, and it is the middle of summer in southern Finland. What should I do? Go ice climbing in Espoo, obviously. Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) June 2012, Mankkaan lumenkaatopaikka, Mankkaa, Espoo, Finland Climbing (Ice); Urban-Exploration (Landfills) | |
| Carrying Skis to 17,000 ft I don't know where to start. Skiing at 17,000 ft? Ice climbing? A night in a tent at 5 kilometers? No acclimatization? The close call with tragedy? Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) May 2012, Tarija Peak, Cordillera Real, Bolivia Climbing (Mountain, Ice); Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Hiking) |
Skiing at 17,000 ft in Bolivia from The Planetskier on Vimeo. |
| Bolivia Is Kind of Close I have finished my meeting in Washington DC and more work awaits me next week in California. But first things first. There's a weekend in between, and what better way to spend the weekend than to fly 16,000 kilometers to Bolivia? Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) May 2012, Tarija Peak, Cordillera Real, Bolivia Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain, Ice) | |
| Hero or Bonehead? While the opinions were split among the spectators that came to talk to me afterwards ("are you the guy who skied that?"), I think the answer is definitely "bonehead". This was just too dangerous. I need to go back to skiing safer slopes. Full story April 2012, Kitzsteinhorn, Kaprun, Austria Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain); Sauna (Normal) | |
| Out of Bounds in Les Arcs I was more worried about falling on that vertical wall than the police catching me, but both were real concerns. And then I caused an avalanche. This is a story about my four day trip to Les Arcs, France. Full story February 2012, Les Arcs, France Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| Russian Ski Stars I climbed a mountain, and found a ski movie actress from Russia on the top! Full story January 2012, Courchevel, France Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| Good Choice to Avoid Iceland I almost booked my IETF flights via Iceland so that I could test the summer skiing on that glacier. Good thing I didn't, because the volcano underneath started erupting yesterday. Close call! Full story July 2011, Stromboli, Sicily, Italy Climbing (Mountain) | |
| Horseback Skiing in the Himalayas No problem. I had never ridden a horse before, so practicing riding on steep, rocky paths at 3 to 4 kms while carrying ski gear and taking photos sounded like a fun thing to do. Full story June 2011, Rohtang Pass, Himachal Pradesh, India Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Riding; Climbing (Mountain); Travel | |
| Dog Finds Slovenia's Last Snow Dogs that climb. Dragging skis to top of mountains on our backs. Skiing Slovenia's last traces of snow. Meeting with the guy who skied down from the seven summits. Full story May 2011, Ceska Koca hut, Kamnik-Savinja Alps, Slovenia Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain) | |
| The 48 hour challenge How many states can you ski in during 48 hours? I'm about to find out... Full story February 2011, Mt. Ashland, Oregon, USA; Mount Shasta, California, USA Skiing (Outdoor, Snow, Lifts); Climbing (Mountain) | |