April - May 2008
news
Canada’s New Superman?
Over the past year, Sean McColl has steadily morphed from Junior World Champion to Canada’s best climber on rock. His impressive showing in the Red River Gorge in the fall was just a sign of things to come, as McColl continued to reel off hard ascents at a blistering pace this winter. Spending the New Year at Bishop, Calif., McColl showed he is as adept on powerful granite boulders as he is comfortable on the long sandstones routes of the Red
.
During his nearly month-long spell, McColl accrued a formidable tick list of problems such as Xavier’s Roof V12, Bubba Lobotomy V12, Direction V13, the Mandala sit start V14 (the latter done despite heavy snow and plunging temperatures), as well as a slew of V11s. But the real coup of the trip was an ascent of Goldfish Trombone, a seldom repeated V14 first put up by Tim Clifford, and first ascents of The Oracle and True North, both of which McColl feels warrant V13.
With conditions at Bishop worsening, McColl made his way further south towards the Mecca of Hueco Tanks. But not without a side trip to the abs National Championship in Boulder, Colorado, where an on-form McColl battled his way to a solid third place. Only finishing behind winner Paul Robinson, and the perennial Chris Sharma. McColl is reportedly back in Hueco Tanks, with hard ascents sure to follow.–AC
The New Standard
When Patxi Usobiaga re-wrote the rules of difficult free climbing with his month-long spree last fall, he downplayed his achievements, saying other top climbers could do what he had done. “Competition climbers can do whatever they want on rock, but the problem is motivation.” Despite Usobiaga’s apparent sincerity, few people took his modest understatement seriously, except perhaps 15-year-old Czech Adam Ondra.
During a two-week break from school to visit Spanish rock, Ondra dispatched routes with Usobiaga-esque efficiency. At Santa Linya, an area popularized by Dani Andrada, Ondra quickly redpointed La Novena Enmienda, downgrading it to 5.14d from its original 5.15a; and dealt with Fuck the System, a new 5.14d put up by none other than Usobiaga, in a mere three tries. Just as impressive was Ondra’s onsight of Digital System 5.14b as well as four other 5.14b, just a notch below Usobiaga’s new benchmark.
At Siurana, Ondra astounded onlookers, including Andrada and Edu Marin, by redpointing La Rambla extension, the full 5.15a version, on only his fifth go, the fastest ascent to date. With such quick ascents of routes that were cutting edge as recently as six months ago, it will be interesting to watch Ondra develop as a climber over the next few years.–AC
Rands Repeats Mandala
After three days of work this winter and despite often snowy and wet conditions, Lisa Rands has successfully completed the first female ascent of the Bishop area classic Mandala V12. The ascent marks something of a return to high level bouldering for Rands, who in recent years has focused on gritstone routes, making multiple trips across the Atlantic to bag such Grit classics as Gaia and End of the Affair.
Anam Cara
Austrian Bernd Zangerl has done a new problem he feels is his hardest to date. Located in the Silvretta mountain region of Austria, Zangerl described Anam Cara as a four-move boulder problem on a 30 degree overhanging face where “every move is hard and that crazy undercut move to the top is the most brutal thing I’ve ever done.” With a track record including his own Viva La Evolution and Memento, which are both V15, and repeats of a slew of high end problems, it’s highly probable that Anam Cara is at least V15.
Canada’s Big Patagonian Season
Young climbers from British Columbia and Quebec in Patagonia enjoyed one of the best weather windows in recent history in the Fitzroy region. Sacha Friedlin and Frederic Maltais of Quebec climbed the north face of Aiguille Poincenot in early January. Their 24-hour push bagged them the first ascent of the Banana Wall VI 5.11a M6+ C1, 700 m. There are routes on either side of the same face, but the Banana Wall takes an aggressive line up the prominent unclimbed centre. Superb granite cracks rarely easier than 5.10 and a few pitches of mixed climbing on unconsolidated snow provided an aesthetic and difficult route.
The well-known Squamish pair of Will Stanhope and Jason Kruk also made their mark on Poincenot. They dubbed their huge route dnv (for their home, District of North Vancouver). At 5.11 R/X A1 1,700 m, with only two short aid sections, it is an impressive achievement. They went on to make the first team free (the leader freed every pitch) ascent of Freddie Wilkinson and Dave Sharratt’s The Sound and the Fury on Aguja Desmochada via a two-pitch variation, at 5.12b 800 m. On the less famous Aguja Raphael Juarez, they also made the first continuous free ascent, with both the leader and second freeing the route, of Via Sin Nombre 5.12b 500 m (aka Blood on the Tracks).
Numerous other important climbs in the area this season included Wilkinson and Sharratt’s first traverse of Aguja Guillaumet, Aguja Mermoz and Fitz Roy, and the first traverse of Aguja Standhardt, Punta Herron, Torre Egger and Cerro Torre by Rolando Garibotti and Colin Haley. The latter route was one of the most coveted and discussed lines in the region.–DCS
New Mixed area in the Rockies
After much exploration in search of new areas, William Meinen, Brandon Pullan and Danny O’Farrell focused their energies on Rehab Wall, which had some ice routes by Kevin Barton, but had not been developed for mixed modern climbing. Located at the Evan-Thomas Creek area, the cliff is one hour closer to Calgary than Haffner Creek and has no avalanche hazard. With routes ranging from moderate pure ice climbs to fully-bolted technical mixed routes, the 200 m long, 60 m high crag is now the closest mixed climbing to Calgary and sure to become very popular. Meinen, Pullan and O’Farrell have demonstrated that much potential remains not just for extreme routes, but also for classic ice cragging in the Rockies.–GA
Piolet d’Or No More in 2008
Organizers of the prestigious Piolet d’Or (Golden Ice Axe) award have suspended the award presentation for 2008. The Piolet d’Or’s choice of winners has been an annual source of rancour in the mountaineering community. Some climbers have accused the judges of national and stylistic biases, but the award’s cachet was damaged more by the sense that it inspired a negative, competitive spirit foreign to mountaineering. In 2006, the team of Ermanno Salvaterra, Rolando Garibotti and Alessandro Beltrami refused a Piolet d’Or nomination after Cesare Maestri claimed their climb on Cerro Torre was merely a repeat of a line he had climbed in 1959. Garibotti and his team said the award lacked “real value, which has put climbers against each other more often than uniting them.” The unaffiliated Russian and Asian Piolet d’Or ceremonies and American Climbing magazine’s similar Golden Piton awards continue.–GA
Mysterious Newfoundland Ice
The history of ice climbing in the Gros Morne area of northern Newfoundland is wreathed in mystery. Famous visitors, from Yosemite legend Jim Bridwell to Maine’s
all-rounder Joe Terravecchia, have reported that the potential for first-class long routes is world-class, but useful information remains sparse. This winter, Quebec climbers Yan Mongrain and Louis-Philippe Ménard travelled to the region to search for new routes on skis. They made two possible major first ascents: Python Givré (Frozen Python) VI WI6+ 250 m and Gadoue Sauvage (Wild Slush) VI WI5 M7 250 m. This was the first serious climbing Ménard had done since injuring his ankle on an attempt on K6 in the Karakoram last year. The potential for new ice climbs throughout Newfoundland is staggering, and will undoubtedly be explored further by committed climbers looking for new ascents.–GA
Rockies Trad Mixed
While bolted climbing in the Rockies continues to occupy the majority of mixed climbers, a handful of locals have begun applying sport climbing mixed skills to the continuing tradition of ground-up, gear protected climbing. Local Rob Owens and Jon Walsh added No Use in Crying, a four-pitch traditional line up an ice choked crack system to the left of the Upper Weeping Wall with sustained M6 climbing and an M7 crux of overhanging bulges and good protection throughout. Owens said he and Walsh believed this bolt-free “Scottish/Canadian Alpine” route was one of the best winter climbs they had done.
Calgary hardman and sport mixed master Raphael Slawinski was also busy, making an early repeat of No Use of Crying with Eamonn Walsh. The pair also added some desperate routes to the Stanley Headwall. They linked Suffer Machine and Uniform Queen with Clucking 200 m, M6 WI5, and ticked a smear between Suffer Machine and Nemesis, naming it An Ideal of Living 100 m, M6 WI5 X. With Ian Welsted, Slawinski put together another long Stanley Headwall route, Comfort Queen (180 m, M6 R WI6). Perhaps Slawinski’s most striking piece of climbing this season was the thin one-pitch crack of Victoria’s Secret Deviation M7+, sent after three giant falls.
