Gripped: The Climbing Magazine February - March 2016

When I was 20, I took my first road trip through the U.S. in hopes of climbing at as many places as I could. I purchased a blue Chevy S-10 pickup truck for the journey for a few hundred dollars. My climbing partner, Noel Gingrich, had never been on such a trip, we had no idea what we were in for. From Ontario, we drove to the Mount Rushmore area and climbed short routes to the top of small spires; it was different than anything we had climbed in Canada. We spent the nights alternating between sleeping in the back of the truck and sleeping on the ground next to the truck. It was mid-July with no rain in the forecast. Next, we visited Spearfish Canyon in South Dakota, which…

Arc’teryx Acrux AR Alpine Boot $800 The long-awaited Arc’teryx Acrux AR Alpine Boot will be on the market this spring. These are the lightest alpine double boots. With a removable Gore-Tex liner booty, a waterproof gaiter and a carbon-fibre midsole, these comfortable and warm boots are highly recommended. Mountain Hardwear Rainshadow Outdry $150 The Rainshadow Outdry is the most recent addition to Mountain Hardwear’s great lineup of packs. This is one of the most water-tight daypacks ever produced. Great for spring adventures when there is rain in the forecast. Easy to access the contents and very comfortable to carry. Boulder Denim $109 Boulder Denim has created new jeans with the climber in mind. These will be some of the best-fitting and stretchiest climbing jeans you’ll ever own. From bouldering to…

Grizzly Bear Bites Climber In the late fall, visiting U.K. climbers Nick Bullock and Greg Boswell were packing a trail on Mount Wilson to the base of Dirty Love V M8 1200m to attempt the second ascent. After climbing some steep rock, they boot-packed a trail up a slope of forested terrain and started their descent. On the way, they bumped into a grizzly bear, which chased them. The grizzly bear caught up to the climbers and bit Boswell’s leg. After a few moments of chaos, Boswell and Bullock scared the bear away, but not before it left holes in Boswell’s lower leg. They continued, always on the lookout for the bear, to the rappels on the lower ice route called Shooting Star. They drove to Banff and Boswell was…

Bubba Wins Award Barry Blanchard won the Boardman Tasker Award for his book The Calling, A Life Rocked by Mountains. Pirmin Bertle Crushing German Pirmin Bertle sent a new 5.15b called Meoise and a new V16 in Switzerland called Drop a Line. Sarah Hueniken Sets Standard Sarah Hueniken continues to lead and set new standards with her December send of Mustang P-51 M14 in Colorado. She is the first North American woman to send the grade. McColl Crushes Bishop Sean McColl visited Bishop in the fall and sent Maze of Death V12, Buttermilker V13, Direct North V14 and many other hard problems. Ashima Shiraishi Sends in Texas Ashima Shiraishi made the first female ascent of Terre de Sienne V14 at Hueco Tanks in Texas in the fall. She also sent…

Josie Hetyei became the second Canadian woman to send 5.14a after Ellen Powick. Some of Hetyei’s hard Canadian sends include Motivation 5.14a, Dinosaur Highway 5.14a, Northern Man 5.14a and A.D.A.T.O. 5.14b, all at Horne Lake, B.C. While being one of Canada’s most accomplished sport climbers, she has remained relatively under-the-radar on the national scene. In 2015, Hetyei sent a number of hard routes in Europe and the States and we caught up with her when she returned home. 1 Where are you from and where are you based now? I am from Richmond, B.C. and currently based between Richmond and the Laurentians in Quebec. 2 Where and what was your first climb? My first climb was at Strathcona Park on Vancouver Island as part of an outdoor education program through…

Thunder Bay, Ont. adventure climber Derrik Patola said that if you eat the ice or drink the water you will stay young forever. He may be in his mid-60s, but the climbs that he gets up to would suggest he is in his 20s. The Fountain of Youth is on the east-facing side of Pie Island, a beautiful and rugged island across from Thunder Bay. As a climber in the city, I had always dreamed about visiting Pie Island in the winter. The pie-shaped island is about seven kilometres from shore. In the summer, you can take a boat across, but in the winter you have to cross the potentially deadly ice. We left the mainland on Mar. 7. I was joined by Jon Hollway, Josh Ferguson and Graham Preston…