Hot Sends
August was a slow month (despite Mountain Project Factoids telling us most big sends happen in Summer), but Sendtember lived up to its name with some big names claiming some big sends.
Alex Puccio – Memoirs of the Invisible Climber (V12) and Irreversible (V13/14):
Eleven weeks after major knee surgery, Alex Puccio showed us why she is the best female boulderer in the world. First, there was here send of Memoirs of an Invisible Climber (V12) she made possible by using a typically overlooked foot that allowed for her to make opening crux cross move. See the video link below. Two weeks later she sent Irreversible (V13/14) which is essentially Freaks of the Industry (V13) backwards and uses the Bush Pilot (V11) top-out. Because she still can not fall on her knee, she had to downclimb (which I found ironic considering it’s name) when she was too pumped at the top out the first time. She sent later in the same day.
Paige Claassen – The Bleeding (5.14b):
Even though Paige has climbed up to 5.14c (Just Do It), she has said that this is the toughest route she has ever done. The project took her over 5 years of visits and more than 100 falls from just the crux moves before she finally sent. What was more interesting was that even though Claassen has made it clear that FFA’s (First Female Ascent) is not why she climbs and not what is even important about the send, the climbing community still touted her accomplishment as such. You can read more about that debate HERE. Personally, I believe that any ascent should be celebrated if it something you are proud of, no matter the gender or the grade.
Isabelle Faus – Amandla (V14/8b+) and The Shining (V13):
Faus took a trip to Rocklands, South Africa and put down the Fred Nicole test piece Amandla (V14/8b+), which requires the crimp strength of chimpanzee on steroids. The following week she returned to the States with a crew including Katharina Sauerwein and Jorg Verhoeven to join in the send train of The Shining (V13) in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Nalle Hukkataival – The Stepping Stone (V15):
Nalle has been on a roll all year. Or should I say all decade? How about he has never slowed down his entire career? The Grampians of Australia might be the new Rocklands given how many new FA’s have been coming out of there lately. After a month of work he put the beast to bed and had perhaps the best comment about the grade, “somewhere around V15, but who knows with the upper numbers anymore.” Nalle’s focus when climbing? The aesthetics of the line over difficulty, and this one is beauty.
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Katharina Sauerwein – The Shining (V13):
The Austrian was joined by her partner Jorg Verhoeven and Isabella Faus to send her third V13 of the year. Upper Chaos Canyon of Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) does not see a lot traffic due to the long and tough approach and the serious gain in elevation, but this crew put together a great day. The sending continued with Jorg, so read on below.
Jorg Verhoeven – Wormhole (V13) and Dirty 30 (V11):
Not only was Jorg present to cheer on Faus and Sauerwein on their sends of The Shining, he put up his own FA out of a dirty hole in Upper Chaos Canyon and named it Wormhole (V13). RMNP local, Jon Glassberg was also with the team and put together a massive 22-move overhanging crimp-fest FA in collaboration with calling it Dirty 30. We may have thought RMNP was totally sussed out, but there is clearly more top-notch climbing to uncovered.
Jimmy Webb – Down Under Trip Review (so many sends!):
Remember earlier when I said that the Grampians was the new Rocklands? (If not, check a few Hot Sends above). Jimmy Webb was in Australia and New Zealand and put up some FA’s along with some gnarly repeats. His Australian tick list includes the following; Death By Comp (V13, FA), X-Pinch (V13, FA), flashed the famous Ammagamma (V13), and repeated Owning the Weather (V14), plus he roped up for Punks in the Gym (5.14a) at Arapiles and Groove Train (5.14b) on the Taipan Wall. In New Zealand’s Flock Hill he added a sit start to Chris Sharma’s Touch the Sky to up the grade to V13 and Trifecta Mode (V13) and put up his problem, King of Swing (V11). Hell of a trip!
Daniel Woods and Ethan Pringle – Thor’s Hammer (5.14d):
Flatanger cave in Norway is home to some of the steepest, sharpest, hardest lines in the world. Thor’s Hammer was originally bolted by Magnus Midtbo, who is responsible for most of the bolting in the area, and FA’d by Adam Ondra in 2012. It sat silent until Alex Megos and Jakob Schubert got the second and third ascents on separate trips this past August, and now it has two more big names to add to its roster. Daniel Woods sent on the 28th and Ethan Pringle followed the next day. Inspired by their efforts, Dave Graham put on a harness to claim the second ascent of Ondra’s The Illusionist (5.14d). Needless to say, this was a great end to the month.
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Calls to Action
Yosemite Facelift
At the end of September, a massive 5-day event takes place to clean up up possibly the most iconic park and features in America; Yosemite National Park. Spearheaded by Ken Yager in 2003 as a way to keep Camp 4 clean for climbers, it has expanded to a major event that gives treatment to all major areas of the park for climbers and regular recreators alike. A screening of REEL ROCK Film Tour, presentations by Tommy Caldwell, Lynn Hill, and Kate Rutherford, and all MC-ed by outlaw Timmy O’Neil. An amazing 14,762 lbs. of trash was collected including 8,926 lbs. of human waste material was removed from the campgrounds and cliffs. Perhaps the most important note of the week is that even with those impressive numbers of collection, the amount has been steadily going down for the last few years, proving that their efforts for education have been having a positive impact. There 1,497 volunteers contributing 9,692 hours of service.
Local Events
AAC Craggin’ Classic – New River Gorge, WV:
September 17-20 – The Craggin’ Classic is a multi-day event to promote all four branches of the American Alpine Club’s mission; Community, Education, Stewardship, and Fundraising. First of all, it is a great event that happens in different location every year and the Mid-Atlantic was lucky enough to host in one of the largest destination for sport and trad in the country. People came from all over to take part in the event, climb the brilliant sandstone of NRG and try to win some awesome swag in the raffles. Classes were offered on a variety of topics including safety, leave no trace ethics, and what you can do to help you local areas. Stewardship projects are always a must and somehow seems to bring people closer together than actually climbing. Of course, all of the mounds of donated swag was raffled off to help raise funds for area purchase and protection. Gear demos, table bouldering, and a dance party made for great cap to the weekend. This author was sorry that he had to miss the event, but wants to thank all that attended and the AAC for putting such fantastic event.
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National Public Lands Day – Great Falls, VA:
September 26 – Mid Atlantic Climbers delivers in fine style, as usual, in their contribution to National Public Lands Day. Great Falls is a popular destination for DC, NOVA, and Southern Maryland climbers, hikers, and mountain bikers and consequently sees a great amount of traffic daily and annually. MAC has always made it a point in their efforts that even though the climbing areas are important, the whole park that we all enjoy is just as important as the rocks we climb on. Great job, once again, MAC!
Crank Candy
Edelrid Jul 2:
Originally slated for release in the Spring of 2015, Edelrid decided to make some changes tot he design to make the Jul 2 a brake-assisted device rather than just a “brake boost” device. The Jul 2 went into production in September and will be released to the public this month. Smaller and lighter than the Mega Jul and more similar to Mammut’s Smart Device, this single tube device is the least expensive yet perhaps the most effective in the ultra-light style. The device also boasts a wide rope range from 8.4mm to 11mm meaning that any single rope is going to feel at home. With a stainless steel core, rather than aluminum, it should last much longer and be more heat resistant than regular devices. For a full review by Weight My Rack, watch the video below.
Video
Community Losses
Erik Roner:
September 28 – Eric Roner was not a climber, but he was an active BASE Jumper and world class skier. Since there is a great amount of crossover between our worlds, we felt it was important to share his story. In the early 2000’s, after already making a name as a professional adventure skier for 10 years, Erik started BASE jumping and combined the two to become a pioneer of ski-BASE jumping. In 2005, the Rockstar athlete joined with Travis Pastrana for Nitro Circus and continued his skydiving stunts with the organization. This past weekend, while performing for a golf event in Lake Tahoe, CA, Erik collided with a tree at a high speed and was pronounced dead on the scene. Roner was 39.
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Coming Attractions
Triple Crown Bouldering – Stone Fort, TN:
October 17 – The Triple Crown Bouldering Series usually starts in Hound Ears, NC on the first weekend of October, but due to the inclement weather that was postponed and now Stone Fort will kick-off the series. This area has an amazing concentration of boulder both tall and small of that bullet sandstone the region is so famous for. The event helps to raise funds for land purchase and preservation for the Southeastern Climbers Coalition (SCC) and is part of the larger week long celebration in Chattanooga of all things adventure, Chattanooga RiverRocks, including a screen of the REEL ROCK Film Tour on Friday night after packet pick-up. This event also opens up a selection of boulder on the 18th fairway that are only accessible on comp day. The Crank Climbing Team is running an event to help gather interested parties for a road trip, you can sign up below!
Register
Crank Climbing Event
PRG – Midnight Burn, 20th Anniversary:
October 31 – The USA Climbing Series for bouldering starts at the end of October for the Capital Region with a classic event dating back to even before the ABS comps. Philadelphia Rock Gyms is celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Midnight Burn at their Oaks facility, and this year it is on Halloween! More importantly, in an effort to be the leasing competition host, PRG has committed their USAC events to also be a part of the their very own Burn Series, and this year is the first time every category gets a payout, plus a new progressive ranking system separate from the ABS for bigger payouts and swag! Costumes are always encouraged for the event.
Register
-Tylor Streett, sad that the Hound Ears competition was postponed, wrote this over a rainy and wet weekend with a beer in hand.
