Here on the Chicks Climbing Gossip Report you can catch up on all of the great gossip (articles, videos, and other assorted cool stuff) we talked about over the past week at Chicks Climbing! We had a fun week launching our “Girly Guns” contest, sponsored by Marmot. Have you seen it yet? We’ve got some great gear to give away including a Marmot 4P Hideaway Tent, a Sidecountry 20 Pack, and the women’s Angel Fire Sleeping Bag – a package worth more than $600! (Thanks Marmot!) You can enter the contest simply by submitting a photo here, and then come back and vote Dec. 29 (and make sure you recruit your friends to vote for you) we will take votes until Dec. 31 when we will announce the winner! Check out the full details here.

Other things we had going on this week at Chicks climbing included Girly Guide Margo Talbot writing a wonderful piece on how ice climbing brought her full circle and saved her from herself. She writes about ice climbing saying “Few things were giving me as much joy in life as introducing others to the activity that had brought me such a profound sense of inner freedom”. Check it out here.

We also had a wonderful testimonial from a Chicks alumna, Jill, who wrote about how her Chicks experience pushed her outside of her comfort zone, which has in turn made the world a bigger place for her to explore. We will be seeing Jill next month, along with her daughter Lindsey in the Quickie; you can check out her inspiring words in our blog here!

Finally, our December newsletter came out which has some FANTASTIC Chicks specials for Christmas. If you want an ice and rock Chicks experience the time is never better – by booking both by the end of the year you can save yourself some major cash! Check it all out here.

All of the other articles we linked to this past week through either the Chicks Climbing Twitter account, or on the Chicks Climbing Facebook fan page (and some on both!).

We provide this wrap-up because we come across a TON of great resources each week, but understand that not everyone is online all the time, or even on both (or either) of these social media platforms. So you can check here each and every week for the latest and greatest in Chicks Climbing resources here on the blog.

However, we know WE may have also missed some cool stuff this week, so if there is something of interest we missed that you came across this week please, let us know so we can share with everyone else!

Climbing
- The Head Chick talks about Chicks with Picks over @PembaServes http://ht.ly/3pLLE – come see why she’s so passionate about it!
- Why get stronger when you can get better at climbing (a reminder to work on technique as well!) http://ht.ly/3rTET
- Awesome mixed climbing video from the Canadian Rockies (“The Real Big Drip”), sure to get your palms sweating! http://ht.ly/3qYuw
- The quick and the dirty on natural anchors in rock climbing from @alpineinstitute:  http://tinyurl.com/2bylku6
- What is alpine climbing? “If at no point you didn’t wish you were somewhere else, you were probably not alpine climbing” http://ht.ly/3oDyk
- Cool article on the history of ice climbing: http://ht.ly/3qbSf
- There is no real formula for choosing the right climbing partner, and Jason from @alpineinstitute talks about his recent struggle with one: http://tinyurl.com/2fqrrkz
- The FREE Kids Climbing College is in session with 4 dates this season http://tinyurl.com/3xy9uam
- A lovely “Ode to Climbers” by Elizabeth, @eliz_rocks, who wants to tell you “You are Awesome”  http://bit.ly/dJNWSz
- Barry Blanchard’s list of Top 10 Moderate Fat Ice routes in Canadian Rockies http://j.mp/eu17W0 (and some fun stories!)

News
- This week’s outdoor and climbing news round-up from @alpineinstitute:  http://tinyurl.com/292xm5j

Gear
- Great write up from Sara, @theclimbergirl, about climbing Rainier and gear she used: http://bit.ly/eTRYWm
- A GREAT review of the Petzl Nomic from Girly Guide Mattie Sheafor is up @pembaserves: http://bit.ly/hWsGy4
- Gear review by Tali (@cupcakemafia) on Champion USA’s cold weather gear so you can keep training outside!  http://ht.ly/3qYaP
- Want to know why that puffy is so darned awesome? Find out here in “The anatomy of a Down coat”: http://j.mp/dXVhWS

Trip Reports
- Genevieve, @icebella_climbs, shares another trip report from her quick trip to find some ice in Canmore: http://bit.ly/hObYSv

Inspiration
- Eileen, @rockgrrl, interviewed Oakley of @LastWildMntn learn about women in film, climbing, and more!  http://bit.ly/eAYN0X

If you have a blog entry that you think would be of interest to the women of Chicks Climbing please let us know! We love getting contributed content from other women – anything from trip reports, nutrition and training tips, to videos. We want to share your resources with the community – much like we do with the Gossip Report and are more than happy to re-publish and share links on behalf of the women’s climbing community!

Finally, a reminder that we have posted our “official” Chicks with Picks 2011 press release, so if you are a blogger or any sort of writer, please feel free to use any and all of the content to help us put the word out about our upcoming clinics this January!