Just like in May, my work season gets out of control as we pack up for the winter. As such, everything else gets put on the back burner, but at least our new team shirts were ordered, just in time for Triple Crown, so stay tuned for photos on Instagram. Anyway, here is August and September will follow soon.
Hot Sends
Not a lot of sending, but what did go down was incredibly impressive.
Nalle Hukkataival, Mind Games (V14, FA) and Noise vs Beauty (V14/15):
Nalle took a trip in early August to Rocklands, South Africa and turned up the heat. A massive highball FA of a problem he is calling Mind Games. See the short video he posted by clicking the link below. He also scored the second ascent of Daniel Woods’ Noise vs Beauty
Video
Will Stanhope and Matt Segal, Tom Egan Memorial Route (5.14):
After 4 years of effort, the team of Stanhope and Segal finally put the pieces together on the hardest alpine route in North America. This massive face in Canada’s bugaboos is set to rival even the grandeur and difficulty of Yosemite, except for the approach, elevation, and limited weather window. The crux pitches stack together in an impressive a 5.14 face, a 5.14- crack (dubbed “blood in the Crack”), and then a 5.13 and a 5.13R. The crack pitch is one of the hardest in the world and when combined with the surrounding pitches it is one of the hardest lines ever.
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Carlo Traversi and Sasha DiGiulian, Magic Mushroom (5.13a):
After several weeks of terrible weather forcing retreats and other major setbacks, the first American team, including the first woman, made the summit of the North Face of the Eiger in Switzerland. They had originally wanted to to climb La Paciencia (5.13b), but the poor weather pushed them back and forced a reconsideration of routes. Magic Mushroom appeared to have been less affected by the storms and proved to be their best bet in the limited window. Three days later, they topped out the iconic mushroom feature, bivied, and thne rappelled the next morning.
Calls to Action
Hidden Valley, VA:
Thanks to a $30,000 loan from the Access Fund to the Carolina Climbers Coalition for the purchase of the cliff line, access has been secured. This was all thanks to help from the community at large for donations (we did post this effort in July) and the response was incredibly rapid. Way to go climber!
Local Events
Sportrock Beat the Heat X:
August 8 – This event has grown from a small member appreciation party to a massive 350+ participant event. Different pieces have come and gone, but what was new this year was a crate stacking competition during the break between the competition and finals. Dinner was awesome and it’s always great to see a locals only finals set from members of PRG, Earth Treks, and Sportrock.
Mid Atlantic Climbers RockFest:
August 28-30 – Another fantastic event from MAC! Many of us arrived late on Friday night after work to a fussy campsite owner, but we got to bed for an early morning. A quick breakfast and carpool to Trout Lake and we split into four groups for the day. One group built a bridge and extended a trail, another raised the grade of a trail to better shed water, graffiti was removed from boulders in the underlook area, and the rarely visited Shelter #4 was repainted and stained. Lunch was provided Pies and Pints and dinner by Mountain State Brewing. Saturday night’s trivia competition was fierce, and the winning team only pulled ahead in true climber fashion; by doing the most pull-ups. Many thanks to the guest host, Don Wahl, for putting that event together. Sunday breakfast was cooked thanks to Solid Rock – Climbers for Christ. Plenty of bouldering and fun was had by all and some good work was performed for Coopers Rock. Hats off to the organizers!
Crank Candy
Meru: Believe in the Impossible:
Do I really need to say anything else? This film is the first one about climbing of the year to come to major theaters, while simultaneously being officially an indie film with major awards across platforms and audiences. It follows the efforts climbing household names Conrad Anker, Renan Ozturk, and Jimmy Chin to climb the fabled Shark’s Fin of Meru in the Indian Himalayas. Jon Krauker narrates and educates the non-climbing viewers. Highly rated and still available to view, please go see it.
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Community Losses
Another month with no reported losses! It feels anti-climatic to report nothing in one of these sections, but this is a great feeling to when we all keep each other safe. Sure, there were injuries and plenty of “UnBelayvable” stories, but hopefully we all learned something from these reports.
Coming Attractions
Since I was late on this month’s post, check out October for details on the events listed below.
AAC Craggin Classic, New River Gorge, WV:
September 17-20
National Public Lands Day, Great Falls, VA:
September 26
-Tylor Streett wishes for more consistency in his life, unless that inconsistency is because he is on a climbing trip.