Innholdsfortegnelse for February/March 2018 i Gripped: The Climbing Magazine

Remote Spectre in Antarctica Repeated Leo Houlding, Jean Burgun and Mark Sedon made a rare ascent of the remote Spectre spire in Antarctica’s Organ Pipe peaks of the Gothic Mountains. They made the second ascent of the 1980 route established by Mugs and Ed Stump and climbed some new ground along the way. The big north-facing route was their second option after a new climb on the south wall, but logistics forced a change of plans. They were mid-trip of a two month traverse of big glaciers using kite-skiing techniques and walking. Spokesman for the expedition, Chris Lines, reported the team had originally intended to attempt the new route on the south face. The weather and duration of the expedition limited the time available for climbing. “After fully assessing options…

The growing city of Barrie, Ont., has its first climbing gym and it’s already a hub for new and experienced climbers. The large bouldering area and auto-belays fill a nice space where climbers can train and project. Run by locals Jaclyn Kane and Michael Moore, who both work for the area’s school board, Alt Rock is the first commercial climbing gym to open in the town located on the shores of Lake Simcoe. The climbing couple have two children and felt they needed a space closer to home where they could teach their youngsters about climbing. With climbing in the Olympics in 2020, many towns where a climbing gym wouldn’t have been successful 15 years ago have climbing gyms in high demand. Kane and Moore are capitalizing on that opportunity…

Bold First Ski Descent of Steep Face My 5 a.m. alarm goes off. I rise, with a touch of a hangover from beers and fence-building the day before. I turn on the preloaded expresso maker and prep some leftover pasta to go. Chris “The Braz” Brazeau shows up, he’s always on time. We’re psyched and ready for what we’ve both been thinking about for a few years: the Southwest Face of Mount Assiniboine. We ponder what’s in store for us. I’ve already prepped the rack, which isn’t much, but hopefully enough. The rack consists of eight nuts, three cams and three knife blades and a 30-metre single rope. For routes like this, you need crampons and two tools each, one being a technical tool. I have a brand new ski…

Quebec climber Hugo Drouin brings us the history of climbing in the province where so many important Canadian climbs have taken place. His new book Roche, Glace et fleurdelisé details important ice and rock climbs over the past 100 years. He’s been working on it for several years and it will be published in March 2018. 1 How long have you been climbing and where did you start? I have been actively climbing since 2005. My first time roping up was on the Université Laval indoor wall. I started climbing outdoors soon after, mostly focusing on trad. 2 Where is your favourite place to climb in Canada? I have been to Squamish and to the Bugaboos and, of course, they are hard to beat. But I have to say that…

It’s becoming less common to find high-quality pure trad mixed lines in the Canadian Rockies. The Rockies are far from being climbed out, but one has to look beyond what you can scope out from any highway. Early fall is the best time to scout potential new routes before the snow gets too deep and the increase of avalanches makes ice and mixed climbing a higher-risk endeavor, or a major exercise in trail breaking patience. I recently took to trail and mountain running. The freedom of moving over sub-alpine and alpine terrain with little on your back is incredible. With a light pack, a pair of runners, and a few provisions, it’s amazing how much terrain you can cover in a casual afternoon run. It’s also a great opportunity to…

Kananaskis Country in the Canadian Rockies includes some of the most popular ice climbs along the Kananaskis Highway (Hwy 40) between the Trans-Canada Highway and Highwood Pass and the Smith-Dorien/Spray Lakes Trail from Canmore. The approach lengths and steepness are similar to those more west, but the snowpack often less filled in. There are single-pitch must-climbs, multi-pitch adventures and everything in between. The climbs are close to Calgary and Canmore and therefore are often busy throughout the year. The Spray Lakes routes often freeze the earliest every season and are some of the first climbed. The following six routes are must-climbs for locals and visitors. A Bridge Too Far As one of the best climbs near Mount Kidd, the 160-metre WI4 is busy most weekends. You climb a steep 40-metre…

Mount Assiniboine is a pyramid-like mountain on the Great Divide, on the British Columbia–Alberta border. At 3,618 m, it’s the highest peak in the Southern Continental Range of the Canadian Rockies and rises nearly 1,525 m above Lake Magog. Because of its resemblance to the Matterhorn in the Alps, it is nicknamed the “Matterhorn of the Rockies.” It was first climbed in 1901 by James Outram, Christian Bohren and Christian Hasler. In 1925, Lawrence Grassi became the first person to solo it. On Aug. 27, 2001, Bohren’s granddaughter Lonnie along with three others made a successful ascent, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first ascent. Routes up Assiniboine Southwest Face II 5.5 North Face II 5.5 First ascent in 1901 by James First ascent in 1967 by Outram, Christian Bohren…

She’s Canada’s current triple climbing champion in Lead, Speed and Boulder, the first woman to send Squamish’s Pulse 5.14a in September and the first Canadian woman to ever make finals in a senior International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup in any discipline – oh and she sets routes and coaches a youth climbing team in her free time. Meet 24-year-old North Vancouver resident Alannah Yip, considered by many to be the future of women’s climbing in this country. Currently finishing her mechanical engineering degree at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Yip is ramping up her training with the ultimate goal of qualifying for the 2020 Olympics. I recently sat down with this West Coast crusher to learn more her training, favourite places to climb, and what motivates…

Story by Matt Brooks My first trip to Mount Nemo was in 2003 and it was a memorable one. I visited the five-kilometre-long west-facing crag when I was a Golden Horseshoe resident. I’ve always had a special place in my heart for the limestone along the escarpment. I had just returned from a trip to Val-David in Quebec. We drove out for a week of climbing on ancient granite. The climbs were harder than I thought but by the end of the trip I’d climb a few 5.11s. My goal during my inaugural Nemo visit was nothing more than to onsight the steep and storied High Society. If you’re unfamiliar with this classic pocket route, it was established top-down and first climbed in the early 1980s by David Smart at…

You’re already a climber and you already know what grade you can climb from the bottom to top without falling off. There’s a number of variables that come in to play, such as climbs that are the same grade but ones a face and ones an offwidth, but you have a good idea of your maximum. If you’re a grade chaser, and let’s be serious most of us keep it in mind, then breaking through to the next can be frustrating. Getting shut down time and time again when trying to punch through to the next limit can be frustrating. But there are ways to claw your way up that seemingly impossible climb in time to start over and try for the next one, all by summer. Here are five…

Have you ever considered a climbing a trip to South Africa? No doubt you’re gunning for the legendary Rocklands, scenic Table Mountain or the enchanted Waterfall Boven, right? If you believe the hype, these zones are all there is to South African climbing, look just a little deeper and you’ll realize this country is so stacked with amazing rock, it’s unlikely you’ll ever get to know it all, even if you spend a lifetime there. Don’t get me wrong, the trad climbing on Table Mountain is superb. Fist-pumping vistas, bomber quartzite and a leisurely top-down approach from the gondola make this place world class. Rocklands, in the Cederberg Mountains, is an endless fairytale of bullet stone for boulderers and craggers alike. Everything about this place is a victory for our…

1. FUN BOX 5.12A (1st Ascent) Jamie Finlayson on the first ascent of Fun Box 5.12a in Boxy Canyon. “It is a gear-protected route but I elected to put a bolt down low at the start,” said Finlayson. “I realized that the first pro was almost halfway up the wall. To avoid a nasty fall I decided to add a bolt and keep it safe. Clip it or don’t, but it is there and will keep you from breaking your legs.” 2. ULTIMATE ULTIMATE EVERYTHING WI4 (2nd Ascent) Luka Lindic, Marc-Andre Leclerc and Tim Emmett on the second ascent of the Ultimate Ultimate Everything. This was the first ice route to be climbed to the top of The Chief. It formed in the fall of 2016. 3. SPANISH FLY TRAP…

The North Face Ultra Fastpack II Mid GTX $189 If you’re looking for a lightweight and plush pair of hiking boots then look no further. These mid-height hikers are built with embedded cables for mid-foot support and can take a beating in wet weather. These boots do a great job at keeping small stones and gravel out for those scree runs. Despite the waterproof membrane, they’re highly breathable. Arc’teryx Bora 2 Mid GTX Men’s $360 Arc’teryx has been perfecting their footwear and the Bora 2 is proof of it. Built for endurance trips where varying weather is a guarantee. They’re extremely comfortable and will keep your feet bone dry. There may be no better spring boot than these. If you put the snow liner in with some warm socks, you…