Gripped: The Climbing Magazine October/November 2018

Adam Ondra visited the Canadian Rockies this summer and helped to put things in perspective for locals, just as he’s done in climbing areas around the world. When he was old enough to compete in the lead and bouldering world cups, he became the first climber ever to have won both disciplines. He was climbing’s first multidisciplinary world champion. The following year, he visited Spain and became the second climber to onsight 5.14c after Alex Megos. He went on to onsight five more within a few days. The following year, he visited a crag called Flatanger in Norway and climbed the first-ever proposed 5.15c with Change. In 2012, he flashed one of the Red River Gorge’s hardest routes called Southern Smoke Direct 5.15a and downgraded it to 5.14d. He then…

Wild Country Revo $175 When the Revo Belay Device by Wild Country arrived in our office, it was met with some excitement. After all, its path from conception to execution has been long and given rise to numerous speculations as to what it would do and how it would compare to existing belay device options. Out of the box, the Revo appears to be unique in the world of belay devices. It comprises a metal body which splits to loop the rope around a wheel and locks closed with a carabiner that attaches the device to the belay loop of your harness. Projecting from the top of the wheel, on either side, are two friction ‘tubers.’ It’s an impressive piece of climbing engineering. Just putting the rope through for the…

Aidas Odonelis has been photographing indoor climbing competitions for over a decade. He’s travelled around eastern Canada in search for the perfect action photo, which has resulted in countless frame-worthy images. He owns and operates Ruby Photo Studios in Ontario and spends much of his winter working with the Toronto Maple Leafs. We caught up with him on assignment at the summer Psicobloc Open Series in Montreal. 1 How long have you been shooting? I’ve been interested in photography since 2000. But I didn’t start photographing professionally around 2008. 2 How many comps have you covered? Not sure, but definitely more than fifty. 3 What was one of the best comps you’ve worked at? Tour de bloc nationals 2009 will always be a memorable one. The Psicobloc comp was pretty…

Psicobloc Open Series in Montreal The first-ever Psicobloc Open Series took place in Montreal at the end of August with hundreds of spectators and dozens of strong comp climbers. There was great weather at the Parc Jean Drapeau Aquatic Complex for the event and a multimedia presentation from top climber Lynn Hill. Junior Results Female 1. Coco Mar 2. Marielle Horstmann 3. Indiana Chapman Male 1. Vincent Sablich 2. Darren Skolnik 3. Mitchell Haight Open Results Female 1. Quinn Mason 2. Babette Roy 3. Audrey Larochelle Male 1. Ben Hanna 2. Ivan Luo 3. Pier-Michael Lemay The Shadow Onsight Emilie Pellerin onsighted the iconic The Shadow on The Chief in Squamish. The steep stem-corner is graded 5.13a and was first climbed by Peter Croft, onsight, in 1988. Pellerin’s is likely…

Dreamcatcher James Webb made the sixth ascent of Dreamcatcher 5.14d in Squamish at the start of September. Algorithm Paige Claassen made the second ascent of Algorithm 5.14d, the hardest route in Idaho. Evan Hau’s New 5.14 Evan Hau made the first ascent of Neanderthal at Christie Falls in B.C., it’s the first 5.14b at the crag. Sonnie Trotter’s 5.14s Sonnie Trotter made the second ascent of Atlas 5.14a at Lion’s Head. It’s his 70th 5.14 route to date. The Bachar/Yerian Sent in 2018 John Bolte climbed The Bachar/ Yerian 5.11cR/X in California. There hadn’t been a recorded ascent since late 2016.…

Tim Auger 1946–2018 Tim Auger was one of Canada’s cutting edge climbers during the height of his climbing career. He passed away in Banff at the age of 72 after struggling with health problems. At age 13, he read Heinrich Harrer’s book The White Spider and knew that he wanted to explore the mountains. He started climbing young and at 18, he made the second ascent of Grand Wall in Squamish with Dan Tate. “I thought I’d died and gone to heaven,” said Auger after the climb. A few years later, Auger teamed up with Tate, Glenn Woodsworth and Hamish Mutch for the first ascent of University Wall, a route that would become one of the most popular granite climbs in North America. Auger would soon move to Yoho National…