Innholdsfortegnelse for February/March 2025 Vol 27 Issue 1 i Gripped: The Climbing Magazine

“I started trying it back in 2017 after climbing Big Fish. I was always looking for that next thing, trying to step it up a notch,” Chris Sharma said about his most difficult deep-water solo to date. He’s talking about Black Pearl, a 100-foot overhanging line of small, sloping edges with one distinct pocket. The route is located in Sóller, Mallorca, just an hour-and-a-half flight from his home in northern Spain. The video premiered at the Siurana Climbing Festival in Spain on Nov. 16 to a full house, and clips of it have gone viral since, reaching millions of views on social media in the past week. “That clip between Reel Rock and Tenaya—it’s gotten millions of views. It’s crazy. The algorithms kicked in somehow,” Sharma said. We talked over…

Do you have a sport climbing trip coming up soon? Need to get some endurance ASAP? A great training tool to get you into lead shape quickly—both mentally and physically—is lead route laps. In lead route laps (also sometimes called route intervals), you lead climb a route multiple times in a row with minimal rest in between. While there are other training methods for building endurance quickly (e.g. hangboard repeaters, TreadWall training, bouldering 4x4s), lead route laps directly translate to outdoor lead climbing by giving you the opportunity to work on your technique, rope management, lead head, and falls—all while enduring an intense pump. Here’s how they work: Lead Route Laps 1. Choose a route a grade or two under your max onsight ability. For example, if you can usually…

The North Face Terra 55L $260 If you’re planning on doing a moderate mountaineering objective once or twice this year, then the Terra is for you. It’s a simple versatile design with durable material and big storage openings. The zippers and buckles work smoothly and the pack fits true to size. The waistbelt and shoulder straps have plenty of cushioning, which is great for long hikes. It’s easy to adjust on the go and feel sturdy throughout the day. Overall, this is an affordable pack for climbers looking to get into mountaineering objectives. Rab Muon 50L $300 If you’re looking to do some non-technical mountain routes this year then you’ll want the Muon, a 50-litre trimmed-down pack. Designed to be light and tough, the frame and materials are for carrying…

The North Face Terra Peak Jacket $290 This is a do-anything vest that looks good, will keep you very warm and is trim enough to fit under a hardshell. There’s a handy interior phone pocket and it stows easily into the chest pocket for when you need to clip it onto the harness. Arc’teryx Insulated Kragg $220 The Kragg was released earlier this year to wide acclaim as the must-have post-climbing-session shoe, thanks to its comfort, style and slip-on style. Just in time for winter, the Kragg is now available in an insulated version. It’s the best slip-on winter boot on the market and it keeps you stable on slippery ground. Camp Photon Wire Carabiner $11 Available in eight colours, this light full-size carabiner is a must-have for mixed, alpine…

“I feel like people aren’t as afraid to talk about vulnerabilities as they were when I was growing up” In a sport that is constantly evolving, pro climber Beth Rodden continues to drive some of that evolution. A first-generation “gym kid,” Rodden began climbing at her hometown gym at the age of 14. Two years later she won the 1996 US Junior National JCCA Championships, a win she repeated in 1997 and 1998. She ranked first in the ASCF adult national series those same years. Eager to progress to outdoor rock, she ditched her second semester of university and drove her Honda Civic—her home for months—to Smith Rock in Oregon to tackle To Bolt or Not to Be, North America’s first 14a. Only one woman had climbed the route, the…

Late in the afternoon on Oct. 12, 2024, Canadian climber Joe Skopec stood at the base of DWEU, a 5.13d sport route at an obscure Ontario crag, gazing up at the crux he couldn’t figure out. Usually this wouldn’t matter. A 5.14d climber known for his projecting grit and determination, Skopec would be able to do it eventually. But this wasn’t just any climb. This was the final climb in Skopec’s eight-plus year mission to tick every sport route in the Ontario Climbing: The Southern Escarpment and Ontario Climbing: The Northern Escarpment guidebooks. It was a quest that had so far encompassed 931 sport routes 5.14c and below, 50-plus belay partners, countless hours of travelling and some of the scariest moments of Skopec’s life. DWEU was the last climb on…

Other Everests One Mountain, Many Worlds Edited by Paul Gilchrist, Peter Hansen and Jonathan Westaway Manchester University Press 2024 Born in the shadows of Mount Everest and beginning his climbing life as a porter on the 1935 reconnaissance of the mountain, Tenzing Norgay’s proudest moment came in 1952 when he became a full member of the climbing team on the Swiss expedition that established the eventual route to the summit. They successfully navigated the Khumbu Icefall to the South Col and then ascended the ridge to what is now known as the Hillary Step. The meritocratic attitudes of the Swiss (never a colonial power) reflected the emergence of a postwar worldview, albeit one shaped by European cultural norms. For the first time in his life, the strictures of colonial authority…

I was following pitch-two on a new mixed route with my buddy Francis Côté. We had just met two weeks prior. It was February and we’re on Mont du Gros Bras in 1986; modern drytooling hadn’t yet arrived in North America. So, I was climbing a difficult rock section with my bare hands, and the rock felt very cold on my fingertips. Côté was pulling on the rope; he wanted me to climb on. “Climb!” he said. But my hands were frozen, and they hurt. I couldn’t move anymore. I was in pain and felt like I was going to puke. I felt dizzy. Then after some time I regained consciousness and was warm again, all the way to my fingertips. So, I kept climbing, and we continued up rock…

People travel to Yosemite for the soaring big walls and test-piece cracks, but spending a day touring the classic short 5.10 will be worth your time. Take Outer Limits for example: it’s close to the road, offers nearly perfect rock and it eats up gear. Yes, the first few moves are committing and bouldery, but once you find your flow in the upper hand-jam crack you’ll wish it went on for days. Just get past the slick, pumpy laybacks and you’re home free. The route is technically three pitches, but nearly every who ropes up for this classic only does the first pitch. It’s been featured in several ads, on posters and on covers. Atop the splitter crack are some big moves that leave the security of the jams for…

Spring is a great time to get out to a Canadian crag for some early season sessions. Whether you’re looking to clip bolts, plug gear or run some top-rope laps, there’s something for everyone from east to west coast. Depending on where and when you’re looking to get out, you can expect to find a mix of dry or damp rock, hot or cold weather and muddy or solid approach trails. Wherever you go, be sure to bring the right amount of gear, some warm layers and headlamps. And it’s strongly recommended to wear a helmet and bring a stick-clip. Here are some of the best spring rock climbing areas in Canada and the best routes to try from 5.5 to 5.13. Smoke Bluffs, B.C. This has been one of…

It feels strange to defend the human art of writing, yet with the rise of generative AI, I find myself having to do so—even at times among fellow climbers, though by nature, we love to create our own tales. Climbing is an act of storytelling with our bodies and our minds: narrative suspense rises as we sweep an axe across a snowy slab, searching for a hidden crystal or a small crack, anything, to hold our weight; a plot changes when we choose which way to go up a branching couloir; a crisis point appears with the slip of a foot or the burst of a storm; our partners’ characters reveal themselves during a dramatic or humorous epic; an epiphany emerges, unexpected, like a flash of light on a faraway…