Innholdsfortegnelse for August/September 2017 i Gripped: The Climbing Magazine

Free-soloing is always full commitment. While Alex Honnold’s first free-solo of El Capitan has been called the most dangerous free-solo ever, it wasn’t. It might be, as Adam Ondra said, “Definitely the biggest thing that ever happened in the world of free-solo climbing, it’s simply unbelievable.” But every freesolo is dangerous because any mistake will likely result in death. The great free-soloist John Bachar (who died in a free-solo fall in 2009 in California) once said, “Soloing is serious business, because you can be seriously dead.” In 1981, he offered a $10,000 reward for anyone who could follow him for one full day. No one took the offer. Since the dawn of technical climbing, there have been free-soloists, many who’ve died falling off a climb. In 1913, Paul Preuss fell…

Emilie Pellerin has quietly been climbing though the ranks in Quebec to becoming one of the best all-round rock climbers in the province. With sends of 5.14 and V10, she is one of the few that went from outdoors to indoors and now competes on the world stage. We touched base with Pellerin mid-World Cup season. How long have you been climbing and where did you start? I started rock climbing a little over eight years ago in Val David. I was instantly hooked and then spent over six years travelling fulltime for climbing. I climbed at over 40 crags in Spain, over 15 in France, in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Greece, Lebanon, Mexico, about 50 crags in the U.S. and coast to coast in Canada. When did you…

Climbing at our limit presents us with a dilemma: Is it the sequence we find or the strength we need to develop that is holding us back from doing the climb? No matter the grade we are climbing, this unseen challenge is ever-present. Our initial goal is to get through our hardest climb by any means necessary. The interesting part is what we decide to do from here – do we see ourselves as trapped by this single solution and think we must become stronger to succeed? Without creativity, jumping to this conclusion of increasing strength can lead to a frustrating, limiting and possibly injurious outcome. There are other options besides getting stronger. Strength is sometimes needed to makes gains but let’s avoid running to the hangboard before looking at…

The camming device is one of the greatest pieces of climbing gear ever made. Just try to imagine a world without them. Their short history began in 1977 when British climber Mark Vallance founded the company Wild Country, which would go on to produce the Friend. Wild Country was founded in a small shop in U.K.’s Peak District, but it all started when Ray Jardine met Vallance in 1972 in Colorado. Vallance was on his way home from Antarctica and they were both working for Outward Bound. Between courses they would head out climbing together. On one of their first days out, Jardine had brought the first-ever prototype Friend with him, it had four cams on a shaft with no trigger or stem. Vallance recalls it required four hands to…

When most North American climbers think about rock climbing in Mexico, the multi-pitch routes on the huge limestone walls of El Potrero Chico usually come to mind. What Potrero often overshadows is the phenomenal sport climbing located only a couple hours further south: the relatively unknown and secluded destination of El Salto. Situated in the massive canyons of the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range, El Salto offers amazing scenery, authentic Mexican culture and, of course, great climbing. The climbing in El Salto is located mostly at four main walls: Las Animas, La Boca, Tecalote Cave and Cumbia Cave. The first three are all within short walks of the camping, whereas Cumbia Cave is about a 30-minute drive away. The rock encompasses everything that draws people to major limestone climbing destinations…

Black Diamond Fifi Hook $15 Every aid climber needs a good fifi hook and Black Diamond’s has proven it stands up to the task. It’s light, rugged, simply designed and a great value. It is not made to take falls, so use it for its constructed purpose. Great for you big wallers out there. Petzl Rocpecker Hand Drill $99 Believe it or not, climbers still bring hand drills on aid routes or on free routes in areas where power drills are not allowed (i.e. Yosemite). The Rocpecker has been around for years and imitates the sds function found on power drills. It’s easy to use and durable. Bits sold separately. Metolius El Cap Haul Bag $325 With 155 litres of storage space, the El Cap Haul Bag is the biggest…

The Push Tommy Caldwell Viking, 2017 Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson’s ascent of the Dawn Wall was without precedent or peer in the annals of rock climbing. It took seven years of sustained effort. The outcome was still very much in doubt two weeks into the final push. It was the first big wall free climb to be streamed in real time to a global audience of followers. In completing the route the pair redefined the word “commitment” in the context of traditional multi-pitch climbing as they dug deeper and deeper into everything they had ever learned in previous lives as sport climbers, high-ball boulderers, alpinists, big wall climbers and soloists. The Push tells the story of how these skills came together in a climbing partnership that spanned half a…

1 Where are you from, where are you based now and how long have you been climbing? I started climbing in the Okanagan 10 years ago. After trying ice and mixed climbing, I wanted to be closer to big mountains and now I’m based in Calgary. 2 What was your first alpine climb? The South Ridge of Gimli. I wore aggressive sport climbing shoes and left my approach shoes at the base of the route not realizing the descent was a walk off. 3Any crazy stories about being benighted? 3 Any crazy stories about being benighted? No I’ve had a few big pushes up to 27 hours but have not yet been benighted. 4 What’s been your goal in climbing the past few years? I’ve been working on diversifying my…

New 21-Pitch Rockies 5.11 On Goat Mountain, Tyler Kirkland and Mark Carlson developed the new Fluffy Goat Butt-Face, a 605-metre 5.11 that is fixed with bolts. Kim McGrenere Sends 5.14 B.C.-based Kim McGrenere sent her first 5.14 with a lap of Galactic Emperor in Ten Sleep, Wy. Steve McClure Climbs Britain’s First 5.15b Steve McClure sent a long-time project at Malham Cove he calls Rainman, it’s the U.K.’s first 5.15b. Colin Haley Solos Mount Hunter Colin Haley soloed the North Buttress of Begguya (also known as Mount Hunter) in 17 hours and 13 minutes camp to camp for the route’s first solo ascent. The full grade is AK Grade-6 5.8 A2 M5 AI6. Seb Lazure at Vail World Cup Quebec-based Seb Lazure was the only Canadian to advance to Semis…

So you want to live in your van, climb all the time and shoot photos as much as possible to live that dirtbag climbing dream, but climbing locations are less than ideal for working photographers to run their business. Generally, climbing locations are in wilderness environments far away from cafes and shopping centres where there is access to free wifi. You have many devices that need to be charged, such as camera batteries, lights, laptops and headlamps. Once back from your climbing adventure, you will need somewhere to go to upload your images and send off emails to magazines and online blogs. The most common method would be to go into a coffee shop, however, you have to buy something first before you can sit down for three hours and…

On the evening of May 26, Will Stanhope busted through the clouds to reach the summit of El Capitan and complete his goal of free-climbing El Corazon, a 32-pitch grade VI 5.13b. El Corazon starts up Freeblast then branches off up Flight of the Albatross, Son of Heart and The Heart Route before joining with the upper pitches of Golden Gate at the Tower to the People ledge. It marked Stanhope’s fourth El Capitan free climb after Freerider, Golden Gate and The Prophet and was my first time trying a route big-wall style and sleeping on a ledge. It took Stanhope and I six days to complete El Corazon. While most of the climbing went smoothly, the ascent wasn’t completely devoid of drama. The first few days went slow but…

The North Face Summit Alpine 50 $309 The North Face Alpine 50 has a clean look and uses the FuseForm technology combined with varying denier threads to maximize strength and reduce weight. It’s another great alpine pack for this fall and winter. Wild Country Revo Belay US$129 The Revo is an innovative device that makes belaying safe. The wheel inside locks when the rope spins it at a high number of revolutions per second, like a seatbelt. It’s easy to handle and a great choice. Black Diamond Technician $100 For fall 2017, the new Black Diamond Technician is a four-season harness with adjustable leg loops, new ice clipper slots, durable fabric, big gear loops and a haul line. One of the best all-round harnesses to hit the market for the…

I recently witnessed a crew of climbers fumbling through the guidebook for what seemed forever. They clearly wanted to figure out the names and grades of every problem in front of them before attempting anything. In the time it took them to do that, they could have tried the problems 10 times over and even ventured to the other problems within sight. Yet, their focus remained on the book. There is no doubt that there is a new culture of climber among us. Approaching climbing through the use of books, video and Google is a common sight these days. While this is neither right nor wrong, it may be worth ref lecting how far we’ve come from ethics of no chalk, ground up climbing. I remember on my first trip…

The Evolution Helix™ was a request from Sterling Team climbers. They wanted a mid-diameter rope with a soft hand and low impact force, all with Sterling’s legendary quality and durability. At 9.5 mm and only 59 g/m the Helix is a lightweight all-rounder that’s built with a higher sheath percentage for greater durability. That’s why the Helix has become the go-to choice for advanced sport climbers like Sterling Team Athlete and guide Leslie Timms. Evolution Helix DryXP™ UIAA Water Repellent Tested Water Absorption: 3.0% All Sterling Dry Ropes are treated with the DeltaDry Process Learn more at SterlingRope.com.…