Hot Sends
USA Climbing Bouldering Nationals:
Alex Puccio regains her crown, Nathaniel Colemen rides a dark horse, and the two major US phenoms Ashima Shiraishi and Kai Lightner find the podium in their first Open Bouldering Nationals. Coming in third for the women was another 15 year old, Brook Raboutou and Russian National Alexsei Rubtsov who was the odds on favorite to win after Daniel Woods was bumped in qualifiers. The most difficult part of Open Nationals was the 9+ hours that the field of 123 male competitors had to wade through during the qualifying round. A new system needs to be put in place to make that event go just a bit faster. Nathaniel Coleman came in with Junior Bouldering Nationals title under his belt from 2016 but complaining of tweaked finger. Somewhere in the video of Semi-finals you can see him shift into fifth gear and start taking the rest of the problems by storm leaving everyone else in the dust. Alex Puccio, also complaining of injury, managed to push through the pain while her sheer power was put on display.
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Youth Bouldering Nationals, held the following week, saw Kai Lightner win Male Junior and overall and Ashima Shiraishi win Female Youth A with Brooke Raboutou right behind. It must be tough being the best in the country as adults and kids. Margo Hayes, in her final season as Youth competitor took the top spot in Female Junior and overall. As a reward for her effort, Margo got a dream vacation that you will read about a further down the page. Plenty of other little crushers are coming into focus and we will have to memorize a whole set of names in just af ew years, mark my words. A full run down of each category is provided below.
RESULTS
VIDEO
Adam Ondra – Mamichula (9b/5.15b):
Another story of Adam Ondra being Adam Ondra and putting down “projects” after just a few days of work. Mamichula is a link-up of two 9a+/5.15a’s, Papichulo and Pachamama, in Oliana, Spain. He had origianlly intended Pachamama as his prject while there, but after he took it down on February 3rd, he decided on a new project. Having grabbed the second ascent of Papichulo in February 2009 he linked the start of Pachamama to the finish of Papichulo by way of V10 traverse that eliminates the rest holds on both routes.
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Nikola Duric and Ivan Lakovic – Strast (The Passion) (WI 5+):
Even on the coast of the Mediterranean ice can form high in the mountains. Twin waterfalls in Tara Canyon freeze regularly, but one of them had never been climbed. A mixed party set out to climb both and Strast saw its first ascent in four pitches. Two days later it saw a second ascent by Mican Cerovic and Dordije Vujicic who confirmed the grade.
Joe Trravecchia, Will Mayo, and Anna Pfaff – Dreamline (WI 6+):
Why is this a dreamline? Because it has been 20 years since it last formed into a climbable feature and even then, this was the first ascent. Made of spray ice formed by wind ripping through a notch next to Pissing Mare Falls in Newfoundland, the 1200-foot, slightly overhangin beast was finally bested by a party of the most prolific ice climber of our generation. The difficulty came from two ways; one, it was thin as many ice lines are becoming in this climate battle, and two, spray ice forms with no natural patterns and must be axed and kicked with utmost delicacy. Nerves of steel is an understatement.
Margo Hayes – La Rambla (9a+/5.15a):
Have you ever tried so hard, never believing that you will succeed and then, all of a sudden, you are clipping the chains and you don’t know whether to cry or scream or wake up from the dream? That was Margo Hayes on February 26th and you can see every emotion under the sun in the photo of her once she completed La Rambla, the Spanish testpiece rivaling Biographie in notoriety and grade confirmation, making her the first woman in the world to climb a 9a+/5.15. The 19 year old American has been inspiring people the world over with a sudden tour de force starting last summer and her humble demeanor makes her all that more approachable. Congratulations Margo, you are currently sitting on top of the pile.
Mike and Andy Libecki – Polar Bear Fang:
It’s the Year of the Ram and time for a Mike Libecki expedition. After over a decade of failure thanks to ice, government and permit disputes, and polar bears, Mike takes his borther on an a dream expedition. The coast of Greenland is treacherous and magical but they find their way up a granite masterpiece of virgin stone. Check out the video of the ascent, “Time is Now,” embedded in the article and prepare to be inspired.
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| “Why ration passion?” |
Laura Rogora – Joe-Cita (9a/5.14d):
We wrote about Laura in January for her send of La Gasparata (8c+/5.14c) and now she has outdone herself with her first 9a on the last day of February. Have we mentioned that she is ony 15 years old? With this accomplishment she bcomes the second youngest climber to pull the grade, right behind Ashima.
Calls to Action
Cliff Closures, Nationwide:
It is peregrine falcon nesting season and that means that some cliffs are closed to climbing for the rest of the spring and early summer. Here in the Mid-Atalntic, that means sections of Maryland Heights overlooking Harper’s Ferry are CLOSED. Check with your local community and make we are not disturbing this protected species.
DETAILS
INFO
Local Events
PRG Heart Burn:
February 18th – Another Heart Burn and another day of heart ache. I have said it before, but that was a year ago so I’ll refresh your memory; PRG East Falls is freaking cool! They have so many features at this gym it’s no wander their team kids are crushing at the National level. All in all, a great time was had by all but damn do those young’uns make me feel bad.
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| These kids are all stronger than me and I hate them for it |
RESULTS
Climbansium Frostbite:
February 25th – Attendance seemed to have been at a record low for what is otherwise a stellar and popular competition. Typically this takes place while the ground is covered with snow and the top-outs in PA are sheets of ice. But this year the weather was a balmy 60 degrees and people decided they would rather get some outdoor cranking in and we can’t blame them. Congratulations to all those that attended, I saw a lot of new names on the list
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| Small crowd, but big fun. |
RESULTS
Crank Candy
Assisted Braking Bonanza:
It is the season of reviews and new gear, so to start off we have the hottest new assisted braking devices, and I could choose just one. Let’s start with the familiar. The new Petzl Grigri+ stays small and light but with an added “panic handle.” If the belayer opens the lowering mechanism too far, then it locks up from the other side. A bit of a learning curve, but a big improvement in safety. The Trango Vergo keeps the dream of all left-handed belayers alive as it offeres a much more comfortable and larger lowering handle than its predecessor, the Trango Cinch. Mad Rock gets in on the action with what looks and operates like a stripped down Grigri, but it is even lighter for you ounce conscious alpiners. The Edelrid Mega Jul Sport uses some type of physics and math to create an assisted braking system out of a tube-style device but not in a top-belay situation. Leave it to those eficient Germans to make us feel stupid. Plus side, you can now get all of the assisted braking fun you want while using double or twin ropes so ice climbs and wandering trad routes now get the same treatment as the rest of us. Finally, the Wild Country Revo is from the freaking future. Using an inertia wheel, just like a seat belt in the car, it locks up when spun too fast from a fall or from a panicked lower. It is impossible to be threaded backwards like most assisted braking devices and operates efficiently though a little it slowly for some advanced techniques.
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| Choose wisely… |
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Community Losses
Fortunately, no notable losses, though there were several reports of hikers falling while “climbing” and ultimately passing form injuries. Guys let’s keep each other safe. Always go with a partner, tell someone where you will be and when you plan to be back, use the appropriate gear and footwear.
Coming Attractions
PRG Burn Finals:
March 12 – Yeah, I missed this one, but awesome job to all those that remembered to attend. Details to follow with results next month
Timonium 12:
April 1 – Since the first day of April is on the Saturday before the normal publication of this regular piece, I decided to put it here. The guys over at Earth Treks Timonium have decided to put together their own version of 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell and dubbed it the Timonium 12. You and partner will try to climb as many routes as possible in 12 hours, between 6am and 6pm. your reward is a pancake breakfast to carb load, a sweet food truck, a t-shirt, beer, and eternal glory for having survived.
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| He he, the hour glass is mountains! |
Tylor Streett, tries to do accurate research while balancing too many projects, Mark “Indy” Kochte knows what I’m talking about.