Innholdsfortegnelse for February/March 2017 i Gripped: The Climbing Magazine

There have never been more young climbers in Canada than right now. There are new gyms opening in big cities and small towns. Dozens of youth programs are helping novice climbers learn how to train. There is a big chance that some of the hundreds of climbers aged five to 15 will head outdoors and focus on pushing the grades. Last fall, B.C.-based Elan Jonas McRae, 20, sent a 5.14d/15a in Spain, proving that the young competition climbers will be shaping the future of Canada’s climbing scene. The number of Canadians who climb hard routes is about to skyrocket. Access is a hot issue around many of Canada’s top climbing areas, and nowhere more so than in southern Ontario. While access to some crags along the Niagara Escarpment seems to…

Kin Wah Lai spent the start of the 2016–17 bouldering season taking down some of the best comp climbers on the Canadian circuit. He won his first three comps of the season with two Sport Climbing BC wins and one Tour de Bloc. He credits his new training program and climbing camps with his success. Last Word Cup season, he travelled with some of the world’s best climbers and used the opportunity to ask questions. Besides better training and more climbing, Lai says that staying injury free has helped him push his limits this season. In 2015, he suffered an injury after a bad fall and couldn’t continue competing. We touched base with Lai after the first half of the bouldering comp season. When and where did you start climbing?…

Bouldering in Squamish can be difficult at the best of times. The granite is not the easiest to climb and it can lead to frustration and disappointment, especially in the hot summer. Falling off problems well below your limit is not uncommon and many seasoned pros have struggled with greasy conditions. Are the grades sandbagged or are people just climbing at the wrong time of the year. Squamish is known for its wet weather and fall 2016 was one of the wettest in recent years. Many of us locals were going stir crazy and longing to get some dry, cool weather so we could get some much needed time on the rock. Social media was f looded with throwback photos from the summer and most of us spent a lot…

In 2016, Daniel Martian established a new 5.14b at Lion’s Head called Tour de Lion. The new hard Ontario route links Maxi Pista 5.13c and Lion’s Head Express 5.14a. Martian is one of Ontario’s leading climbers and developers. Some of his new routes include Hotel Bennell 5.14a, Mini Me 5.13c, Lion’s Head Express 5.14a and Atlas Shrugged 5.14a. 1. How long had the line of Tour de Lion been an idea or project? Around five years ago but I really committed to it the last two seasons. I got the idea from my friend Mark Smith. Some of the best steep rock and movement at Lion’s Head. Tentatively rated 5.14b but it will need to be confirmed. Lots and lots of tries until I brought this beautiful stone down to…

Stuart Macdonald and Matt Helliker climbed a new six-pitch M6+ up the northwest face of Tour Ronde near Chamonix called Rotatornator. Anna Liina Laitinen of Finland sent Southern Smoke 5.14c in Red River Gorge, her first of the grade. Israeli climber Alex Khazanov made the third flash of Mandala V12 in Bishop. Leading Korean comp climber Jain Kim, 28, flashed China Climb 5.14b in Yangshou. Sebastien Berthe makes second free ascent of Heart Route 5.13b in Yosemite. Barbara Zangerl and Jacopo Larcher sent Free Zodiac 5.13d on El Cap for the third free ascent with both leading every pitch harder than 5.12. Robbie Phillips sent the 30-pitch Pre Muir 5.13d on El Cap with partner Ryan Richardson in just three days. Jernej Kruder made the second ascent of Chris Sharma’s…

A Place in Which to Search Joe Kelsey Black Canyon Books, 2016 When Richard Nixon solemnly declares that he is not a crook, Joe Kelsey is somewhere in the Wind River Range climbing a route not particularly difficult by the rising standards of the day. Days and months pass. He returns to Jackson, Wyoming caught off guard by a reference to President Ford. His summer journeys to the Winds will continue to the present, outliving the generations of Golden Retrievers that he chooses to take with him to the mountains. Esteemed guidebook writer and compiler of all things Winds, Kelsey keeps faith with the values that shaped the beat-inspired Shawangunks climbing community of the 1960s, values that largely dismiss climbing developments as the 1973 Yvon Chouinard catalogue moved from touchstone…

Arc’teryx Bora AR 50 MSRP TBA The Arc’teryx Bora AR 50 has a unique hip belt that fits into the frame with a three-dimensional ball joint. The new design allows it to pivot left, right, up and down. It gives the user great freedom of movement. A great pack. Grivel Tau MSRP TBA The Grivel Tau wire lock features two gates, one key lock and one wire that open in the same direction. When closed, the wire gate holds the keylock gate in place to make a simple and easy to use auto locker. Another top design from Grivel. DMM Mantis $30 A featherweight belay device similar to the Pivot that performs well for all climbing types. With good grip on ropes from 7.3 mm to 11 mm, it feeds…

Jean Marc de la Plante is involved with four climbing gyms in four provinces in Canada. From the East to West Coast, his efforts have helped create fun indoor climbing spaces for thousands of Canadians. He has long been involved with Allez Up in Montreal and his second gym was Seven Bays Bouldering in Halifax. In 2016, he became co-owner of BoulderHouse Climbing in Victoria and in January of this year and with Tour de Bloc’s Luigi Montilla, Up the Bloc in Mississauga, Ont. opened. We touched base with de la Plante at his home in Montreal. What was the first climbing gym you climbed in? I first tried climbing in 1998, I was 16 years old. My neighbour who was a few years younger than me convinced me to…

I looked up at the curtain of ice, shook my head and swore. It was overhanging for about eight metres, thin, full of holes and just a few centimetres thick. Five pitches up Gimme Shelter, I feared it could shut us down. The day before, Jon Jugenheimer and I skied 17 kilometres from Lake Louise to Consolation Lakes. After digging out one metre of snow, we pitched our tent, shoved our pads and bags inside and skied off to Mount Quadra to check out the route. From below, it didn’t look that good. White and grey ice, with only a little blue at the top. The approach slope appeared to be stable and there was no evidence of serac collapse; I was optimistic. The curtain was three-dimensional and chandeliered, so…

“We spent the night shivering and wiggling our toes. I was coughing up copious sputum, lovingly known as Khumbu Lung Butter, and having increasing difficulty breathing.” “We could see the summit, 100 metres and probably less than an hour away. If we continued, we would likely make it to the top.” My partner Sunny and I attempted Cholatse in Nepal last fall and had a bigger adventure than expected. We had a great time but had to turn around just shy of the summit after experiencing Khumbu Lung Butter (not as delicious as it sounds), summit ridges in the dark and open bivis at 6,100 metres. The adventure was more of a human journey of internal exploration, listening and decision-making than the climbing itself. We deliberately chose to try and…

Gyms Quebec Allez-Up 1339 rue Shearer Montreal, QC 514.989.9656 allezup.com Escalade Horizon Roc 2350 Dickson Montreal, QC 514.899.5000 horizonroc.com Ontario Ajax Rock Oasis Ajax Community Centre 75 Centennial Rd. Ajax, ON 905.231.3434 905.231.9934 fax infoajax@rockoasis.comrockoasis.com Climber’s Rock 5155 Harvester Rd., Burlington, ON 905.633.7625 info@climbersrock.comclimbersrock.com 40 min. from Toronto Climate controlled! 12,000 square feet 100 + toprope routes 108 feet of continuous top-out bouldering! The Guelph Grotto Indoor Climbing Gym 199Victoria Rd. S Guelph, ON 800.454.0456 519.767.0838 519.767.2408 fax info@guelphgrotto.comguelphgrotto.com Joe Rockhead’s Climbing Gym 29 Fraser Ave. Toronto, ON 416.538.7670 joerockheads.com “Eating glazed doughtnut bracelets off the right arm of Jesus.” Of Rock & Chalk 482 Ontario St. Newmarket, ON 888.248.7625 rockandchalk@hotmail.comrockandchalk.com The Rock Oasis Toronto, ON 416.703.3434 infotoronto@rockoasis.comrockoasis.com Manitoba Vertical Adventures Climbing Gym 77 Paramount Rd. Winnipeg, MB 204.632.5001 webmaster.climbva.comclimbva.com…

When Gripped editor Brandon Pullan asked me to write this series of articles he said I could write about anything I want – to use this as my soap box, my pulpit. Well, if this is my pulpit then get ready for a rant complete with incoherent run-on sentences and lots of inserted parenthetical comments. I want to write about something that is not unique to rock climbing but because I am a rock climber that is where I see it the most. I want to write about honour vs. glory. I’ve had this discussion with friends many times over the years, usually over a few beers or glasses of wine to get me fired up. Maybe it’s just because I’m old and need to complain about something, maybe it’s…