Innholdsfortegnelse for August & September / Vol 21 Issue 4 i Gripped: The Climbing Magazine

Gripped is a magazine for climbers everywhere and is celebrating 20 years of being in print this year. Its core climbing content has included cutting-edge new routes in the alpine, on boulders and at the crag. David Smart and Sam Cohen started the publication in 1999 and since then, we’ve covered stories from around the world. Gripped has had thousands of contributors from every walk of life, with climbing being the common thread. The sport of climbing has changed a lot since the late 1990s and there are more climbers than ever, which is why we’re looking forward to the next 20 years of stories, development, competitions and more. In the first issue of Gripped in 1999, the term gripped was described as “a colloquialism in climbing meaning in a…

Minihapa is a New Banff 5.6 Multi-Pitch In spring, Brandon Pullan and Alyssa Acchione established Minihapa, a four-pitch 5.6 that climbs the lowest tiers of rock next to Cascade Falls in Banff. The route is named after the Stoney-Nakoda First Nation’s name for Cascade Mountain, which translates to “mountain where the water falls.” The first two pitches had been climbed on for decades for top-roping, but the upper two pitches, which climb next to the waterfall, had not been climbed. The first pitch is 5.4, the second is 5.5, third is 5.6 and fourth is 5.3. It starts a few metres to the right of the lowest waterfall. Slovak Direct Climbed Marc Toralles and Bru Busom made the 10th ascent of the Slovak Direct on Denali, one of the world’s…

Top local climber Stephane Lapierre described it as one of the most beautiful multi-pitch routes in Quebec, so I rounded up some partners to check it out. The wall is located by a big hydroelectric dam called Bersimiss II, which was built by Hydro-Québec. After a short ferry delay, we got there around midday. Once we arrived, we realized the road was closed three kilometres before the trailhead because the river was flooded by the dam. We ended up crossing the river by walking on parts of the power station. On the other side of the river, three kilometres of bushwhacking was required, which took nearly three hours. The wall is an impressive 400 metres of granite right over the dam. The rock is sometimes pink, sometimes white, black or…

Walk into most climbing gyms and you’ll likely see a gaggle of kids in team shirts doing laps on routes, darting across slanting volumes and catching improbable holds with one hand. They travel in packs, from one problem to another, climbing with seemingly reckless abandon. When I started climbing at Boulderz, in Toronto, the kids’ team was like one mass of shrieks and giggles, and arriving at the gym after a long day of work with a full training plan scheduled ahead of me, I really had no interest in what they were doing. Eyes down, I quickly made my way up the stairs in the back to get my workout underway. Resting between my sets and looking out over the gym, I glanced to my right at the upturned…

Some Stories Yvon Chouinard Patagonia Books Yvon Chouinard doesn’t think much of venture capitalists. At best, they turbo-charge businesses that damage the planet; at worst, they fund growth models that hit a brick wall without yet more capital. Sustainable models – business or otherwise – are the only ones he subscribes to. “Actions speak for themselves” is the Franco-Canadian ethos he was born into, and one he’s adhered to his entire climbing and business life. Some Stories collects his writings from the days he joined a high-school falconing club in California in the fifties. It was there that he learned to rappel and gained environmental awareness (of the impact ddt had on birds). From there it was the start of a climbing life that took Chouinard to the top echelon…

Em Pellerin Flashes 5.13d Quebec climber Em Pellerin was just in France where she flashed Hulkosaure 5.13d in the Verdon. Sean McColl Celebrates 150 Sean McColl made it to finals at the Vail world cup in June and finished sixth. It was his 150th world cup competition. Babsi Zangerl Austrian Babsi Zangerl made a quick repeat of Everything is Karate 5.14d in California. Her partner, Jacopo Larcher, also sent the steep granite sport route. Laura Rogora Laura Rogora, 18, of Italy, made the first ascent of Rèveille-toi 5.14d at Cueva di Collepardo in Italy in early June. In 2016, at the age of 14, Rogora became the first Italian female and second youngest climber ever to climb 5.14d with her send of Grandi Gesti in Italy. Pia Graham Zozobra Ontario…

Brent and I went to Marble Canyon one weekend in April 2019 with the intention of bolting a new route on the lower wall. The Goat had been established as a new 19 pitch 5.9, but not much else was very accessible – or known in the area – that would attract more traffic to this limestone face. We finished up the first day of our weekend with an ascent of The Goat and quested off the next day to find some unclimbed rock to claim as our own. As we walked along the lower apron, we came across an arête that looked enticing: perfect, compact grey limestone with no signs of previous climbing exploits. We donned the heavy bolting gear that we laboriously carried up to the bottom of…

Gyms Quebec Allez-Up 1339 rue Shearer Montreal, QC 514.989.9656 allezup.com Escalade Horizon Roc 2350 Dickson Montreal, QC514.899.5000 horizonroc.com Ontario Ajax Rock Oasis Ajax Community Centre 75 Centennial Rd. Ajax, ON 905.231.3434 905.231.9934 fax infoajax@rockoasis.com rockoasis.com Climber’s Rock 5155 Harvester Rd., Burlington, ON 905.633.7625 info@climbersrock.com climbersrock.com 40 min. from Toronto Climate controlled! 12,000 square feet100 + toprope routes108 feet of continuous top-out bouldering! The Guelph Grotto Indoor Climbing Gym 199 Victoria Rd. S Guelph, ON 800.454.0456 519.767.0838 519.767.2408 fax info@guelphgrotto.com guelphgrotto.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.com rockandchalk.com The Rock Oasis Toronto, ON 416.703.3434 infotoronto@rockoasis.com rockoasis.com Manitoba Vertical Adventures Climbing Gym 77 Paramount Rd.Winnipeg, MB…

The Ontario Alliance of Climbers (OAC) organized The Rattlesnake Project in partnership with Conservation Halton, with the goal of creating new sport routes for climbers to enjoy. In the end, they bolted 30 new routes, mostly from 5.6 to 5.8, and created spaces for learning about rope systems. Bolting the routes wasn’t cheap, the whole project cost over $5,000. We encourage Ontario climbers to donate to the oac, so it can continue to maintain access. The routes were showcased at the first annual Rattlesnake Spring Fling, which brought together industry leaders to mentor new climbers on and off the rock. The rock talk mentorship clinic was an opportunity for experienced locals to pass along their values and traditions to the next generation. The goal was to help shape the behaviour…

In the past 20 years, countless new hard routes have been established in Canada and around the world, from bouldering to sport and alpine. Canada now has 5.15 routes, champion competition climbers and there are more people than ever heading to the crags and mountains to go climbing. Below are 20 years of Gripped magazine covers and a list of 20 years of highlights. Highlights from the archives 1999 SONNIE TROTTER jumps onto the Canadian climbing scene with first ascents of The Shaven Yak 5.13c at Metcalfe and Bionic Space Boy 5.13d at Old Baldy, both in Ontario. 2000 WILL GADD makes the first ascent of Power to Burn, Canada’s first M9, in the Waterfowl Gullies in the Canadian Rockies. 2001 West Coast climber KATY HOLM took first place in…

Scarpa Ribelle Tech OD $640 The Ribelle Tech OD is a newer concept in mountain boots for fast and light alpine climbers. They combine the feel of an approach shoe with a mountain boot performance. It’s for taking on moderate technical alpine climbs and easy rock. They’re compatible with semi-step-in crampons, such as the Grivel Air Tech or Petzl Lynx. OD stands for OutDry, a waterproof lining that Scarpa have begun to use in some models instead of Gore-Tex. The lacing uses an eyelet system that is easy to use. Highly recommended for alpine climbers looking to move fast. La Sportiva Nepal Cube GTX $700 The Nepal Cube is a burly workhorse that we’ve put to the test in some of the most demanding alpine areas in Canada. They’re solid…

“I’ve been writing my book for many years,” Deirdre Wolownick shares from her home in Sacramento, California, as we chat over tea and cookies. She’s warm and friendly. She’s home for the day between stops on her book tour, which gives her a break and helps her recover from her recent corrective foot surgery. This house has a brown piano in the living room and family pictures in every room, with many showing shots of the family climbing together in California. Deirdre’s books and Alex’s books are lined up on either side on one bookshelf. His titles include his autobiography Alone on the Wall and Mark Synnott’s biography The Impossible Climb: Alex Honnold, El Capitan, and the Climbing Life. Her titles include English for (Foreign) Language Students and her latest…