Innholdsfortegnelse for August & September 2020 / Vol 21 Issue 4 i Gripped: The Climbing Magazine

European Women Crush Post-COVID-19 Melissa Le Nevé Makes History with Action Directe 5.14d Melissa Le Nevé became the first woman to climb Action Directe 5.14d in Frankenjura this spring. In 2014, she became the first woman to send Wallstreet 5.14c, also in Frankenjura. The classic 5.14d was first climbed by Wolfgang Gullich in 1991 as the first of its grade. It’s been repeated over 20 times, but still stands as one of the hardest 5.14d routes in the world. Le Nevé, 30, is one of the best climbers with 5.14 multi-pitches and V14s to her name. She grew up in the Vosges, France, and began climbing at age 15 at a gym near Bordeaux. She was the French women’s bouldering champion in 2010 and 2013, placed fourth in the Bouldering…

The Slhany is a large outcrop of granite north of The Chief overlooking Squamish. There are some good routes, but the longest in the 5.10 grade is The Great Game. Like most routes in the area, it has some steep slab, steep cracks and tricky laybacking. The first and last pitches help this route stand out from the rest in terms of quality. The first pitch is a sustained 60-metre 5.10d, one of the best at the grade in Canada. It has pumpy layback, tricky jams and technical corner climbing. The final pitch has sport-climbing-like moves past bolts and an overhanging section. The Great Game dishes out burly climbing that will make you work hard for every inch. More than one climber as left flesh on the thrutchy jam moves.…

The Canadian Rockies are one of North America’s premier sport climbing destinations with thousands of bolted pitches, from the easiest grades to the most difficult. Climbing in the Rocky Mountains of Canada started in the 1800s, and the sport’s evolution led to the establishing of sport climbs by the early 1980s. Clipping bolts became the new go-to for climbers looking to push technical difficulties in the area, mostly because the limestone in the Bow Valley doesn’t offer the best trad placements for big whippers. There have been dozens of guidebooks, phone apps and organizations that have promoted crag climbing in Alberta’s mountains and over the past few years there’s been an increase in the popularity of Bow Valley crags. The real story of Bow Valley is in the history of…

Story and photos Will Tam The early wake-up call was just the beginning of “the eager beaver challenge,” a plan to do a lot of climbs at multiple crags self-powered, in a day. Dustin Johnston-Jewell and Elan Marko woke up at 3 a.m. on Sat. July 13, 2019, in a friend’s cottage in Kimberley, a small town in Beaver Valley. The rather arbitrary challenge was simple: each climber must climb all the sport routes 5.9+ and under at the four major Beaver Valley crags with no outside support in under 24 hours. The routes were based on those listed in Ontario Rock Climbing: The Best Of Southern Ontario Climbing Guidebook. The four major Beaver Valley crags being Old Baldy, Metcalfe Rock, The Swamp and Devil’s Glen are part of the…

Arc’teryx C Quence Women’s $190 Arc’teryx has been building some of the best harnesses for over two decades, and the C Quence is one of the most refined ever constructed. The rise between the waist and leg loops will allow the harness to sit comfortably on your wait and legs. And the gear loops are placed in near-perfect locations for racking. Keen Newport H2 Sandal $120 Having hot feet on approaches is never fun, and that’s why using a sandal designed for hiking is recommended. The Newport H2 lets your feet breathe, while providing toe protection and great traction for rough trails. The washable webbing upper is excellent for crossing creeks or for wet-weather days. The North Face North Dome Rope Bag $119 Made from fully recycled and durable materials,…

I believe that glaciers are not benign, that cornices will break, seracs topple, that some crevasses are bottomless. I believe that the whizzing stone, loosened from above, will usually not hit me. I believe if I am on the summit of a peak in the Sierra, the sun will set before I make it back to the car. I believe that having the right partner is rule number one. I believe in three anchors at a belay stance. I believe in walking off rather than rappelling, if I have a choice. I believe that alpinism is a matter of urgency. I trust the rope. I believe in my tools, but not as strongly as I believe in my hands and feet, heart and lungs. It’s not that I believe my…

When a little shove sent the belay ledge at the top of the first pitch of Northern Etiquette off of the Eyeball cliff, I was wary of what lay above. My second, Jimmy Rogers, laughed. What was the etiquette? he wondered. The pitch below us started up a mossy slab and continued up some flakes hanging out of cracks like giant war swords. Deliberately jammed rocks on either side of the flake kept the top-most flake from falling out. It was only 5.8, but it required you to decide whether you thought the flakes were loose or solid and then go with your decision for the rest of the pitch. I decided it was solid, and one of our party decided to pass. The climb improved. A short, solid traverse…

Founded in 1993 by pro climber and mountain guide François Guy Thivierge, Roc Gyms climbing centre was the first climbing gym established in Quebec. For nearly 30 years, it’s served as a go-to indoor climbing hub in Quebec City. Roc Gyms is fully decked out with everything you’d find in a more modern gym, like a crossfit and yoga room, ninja training equipment, slacklines and more. Thivierge is one of Canada’s most accomplish high-altitude climbers, with accomplishment like the Seven Summits and 50 expeditions to 25 countries. He first discovered the mountains at age six near Mount Washington in New Hampshire and started climbing in 1980. In his younger years he dreamed of being a mountain guide. In 1985, he began as a rock instructor guide and in 1989 he…

Black Diamond ATC Pilot $60 The atc Pilot provides some extra locking up strength compared to other tubular devices, but like all hybrids, you should keep a brake hand on. This device excels for top roping and lowering scenarios at crags and gyms. It only has room for one strand, so only works for single pitch routes. It’s relatively cheap to buy, so it’s used widely by climbing programs and guides. It’s lighter than other devices, so if you’re hiking into a remote crag, consider having this on your harness as opposed to a fully mechanical device. Mammut Smart 2.0 $38 Mammut redesigned the passive locking Smart and released the Smart 2.0 in 2018. It offers the security of an assisted braking device at a lower cost. Plus it’s lightweight…

Adam Ondra’s Coffee Table Book By Adam Ondra AO Production, 2020 At 223 pages, in English, and weighing the same as a small watermelon, Ondra’s book is packed with both beautiful imagery and essays that describe his love for climbing. “The book you’re holding in your hand is about still pictures,” Ondra writes. “Still pictures … have the advantage of taking one single moment of existence and making it eternal.” After a quick introduction by Ondra where he writes about his earliest years on the stone, the book’s full-page eye-candy shots begin. “Since I was a little kid I always wanted to climb as hard as I could,” says Ondra, who by the age of 13, sent 5.14d/9a. Today, with his FA of Silence a 5.15d, in Flatanger, Norway, he’s…