Gripped e-Mag // Issue 6

Melissa Lipani on Dragonfly V5, Hueco Tanks, Texas. Photo Benoit Robitaille

Gripped e-Mag, Issue 6, Full Edition	April, 2007
In This Issue Welcome to The Gripped e-Mag Gripped Interviews Patxi Usobiaga Better Beta – How to Safely Clean Anchors Part 2 Pimp Your Road Trip Ride Booty	Subscribe to the Gripped e-Mag e-Mag Archive Contact Gripped Subscribe to Gripped Magazine Visit Gripped.com
Christian Core climbing Transporter Room V5, Bishop, California. The Gripped e-Mag Welcome to the sixth issue of the Gripped e-Mag! Published monthly and full of interesting articles on climbing personalities, destinations, techniques and new gear that you won’t find in the magazine, the Gripped e-Mag is FREE and a great complement to Gripped Magazine. Register now to receive the Gripped e-Mag and you will be entered for a draw to win a Tendon 9.2 mm Master 70 m rope valued at approximately $150 (see sidebar for more details)! Please feel free to forward the e-Mag to any other climbers that would find it interesting! If you have any comments or suggestions please contact us at info@gripped.com. Return to top Gripped Interviews Patxi Usobiaga In 2006, a 26 year-old Basque climber, redefined hard sport climbing. During that year, Patxi Usobiaga climbed over 30 routes graded 5.14 or harder and onsighted seven of those routes. While most climbers would be happy with a handful of 5.14 ascents per year, Patxi averaged over two 5.14 routes per month. Combined with his numerous international competition victories, Patxi may be the best sport climber in the world. We caught up with him as he was leaving for a climbing trip to Catalonia. Patxi Usobiaga on Pata Negra Extension 8c (5.14b), Rodellar, Spain Your recent redpoint and onsight record is incredible. How can you climb at such a level for such a continuous period? Training for international climbing competitions during the year keeps me pretty fit. I love climbing on real rock and I’m very motivated to climb outside. This combination of consistent training, a high level of enthusiasm and a love of climbing explain my success on routes. How do you stay injury free? There is no secret to staying injury free. Everybody who trains a lot is susceptible to injury. You need to pay attention to your body and ease off if you feel something is wrong. If you do the right things it’s easy to avoid injury. What kind of routes do you enjoy climbing? I like sustained routes with consistent difficulty; classic resistance routes. This kind of climbing comes easy to me because it’s similar to competition routes. I also enjoy crimpy routes. What does an average training session look like? I prefer climbing as training. It’s more fun and enjoyable. There are reports of top climbers using electro stimulation as part of their training sessions. Have you tried this? Did you find it useful? I tried it some years ago, but have not used it in the last two years. I think climbers can still gain much more from conventional training. You got the third ascent of Realization 5.15a. Do you think the grade is accurate? Do any of your other red points seem more difficult? Realization is a difficult climb, but it’s hard to say whether it’s the hardest route I’ve done. When you do a difficult route, you are never sure of your personal fitness. You can only estimate the difficulty. What are your thoughts on high end sport climbing grades? Is there an over inflation of grades to satisfy sponsors and egos? Maybe, but I want to believe that climbers assign grades to their climbs based on how they really feel, not to satisfy sponsors or the media. It seems that Basque climbers dominate the high-end sport climbing community. How do they do it? The mountains are important in the history and culture of our society. But apart from this, the Basque are really cabezones [pigheaded, stubborn]. Do you ever take rest days and what do you do to relax? Normally I rest one month per year (December). Favourite climbing area and why? All the areas around Catalonia are incredible. Siurana, Margalef, Terradets, etc… Any future climbing/travel plans? Yes, of course. I want to have enough time to travel and climb in every world class area. Right now, I just don’t have the time! Return to top Better Beta How to Safely Clean Anchors – Part 2 In the first part of this series (Oct. 2006) we discussed cleaning sport route anchors equipped with ring anchors. The process involved pushing a bight of rope through the rings, tying a figure eight knot on the bight and clipping it into your belay loop with a locking biner (see Gripped e-Mag Issue 1, October 2006). When you encounter chain anchors however, the links may be too small to pass a bight of rope. In these cases consider using the following cleaning sequence. Clip a quickdraw into each length of chain above the last chain link. Make sure you clip the draws with the bottom biner gates opposed. Clip the lead rope into the anchor draws. Have your belayer take you tight and sit back on the rope and anchors. Take a spare quickdraw and clip it into your belay loop. Grab one of the anchor draws and pull yourself up to clip your belay loop draw into the bottom biner of one of the anchor quickdraws. You are now no longer weighting the rope and are directly clipped to the anchors. Make sure that your belayer keeps you on belay, but with less tension. Ask for slack from your belayer. Stay on belay. Reach down and take a large bight of rope. Tie a figure eight knot on a bight and clip the knot into the top biner of one of the draws already clipped into the chains. This prevents the rope from being dropped during the next sequence. Untie the rope from your harness and pull it out of the anchor draws. Thread the free end of the rope (previously attached to your harness) through the free bottom links on the two sections of chain. Tie back into your harness. Unclip and untie the figure eight knot from the top biner on the anchor draw. Double check that you are still on belay and then ask your belayer for tension. Unclip your belay loop draw from the two quick draws in the chains. You’ll now be sitting back the rope. Remove the two draws from the anchor chains. Lower safely to the ground. Return to top Pimp Your Road Trip Ride Packing the car with climbing gear and heading out for a spring road trip is a sure sign the climbing season has begun. Like most climbers, you’ll be logging serious miles on your ride and also using it as your makeshift home. Before you start driving, check out these simple car travel hints to improve your safety and comfort. Car Maintenance Some basic maintenance will assure you arrive at your climbing destination safely and on time. Check your tire tread Worn treads compromise traction and control and can lead to a blowout at high speeds. Inspect your tires regularly and replace them when necessary. Check your tire pressure Properly inflated tires improve handling and fuel economy. The money you save on gas can buy you a nice meal, a comfy night in a motel or a few extra days on the road. Check your oil Change your oil and filter every 5,000 km. This extends the life of your engine and ensures your car runs smoothly. Make sure you also check your oil level. Most engines burn some oil during regular use. If this oil is not replaced you may face expensive engine repairs. Check your window washer fluid and wiper blades Road grime, dust and even bugs can impair your view. Washer fluid and new blades provide streak free vision and eliminate stopping at every gas station to clean your windows. Car Comfort Whether you’re actually camping in your vehicle or just using it for transportation to the crags, you’ll be spending serious amounts of time in the car. Here are some tips for maximizing your daily comfort. Mosquito netting If you’re camping in your car during warm buggy conditions, you’ll want your windows open for ventilation. Unfortunately, this allows the mosquitoes and black flies in. A simple solution is to secure mosquito netting on the outside of the car windows with magnets. The magnets keep the netting stays in place without permanent modifications to your car. Curtains If you’re sleeping in your vehicle, you can extend your rest time by using curtains to block out the morning sun. Start by stringing cord between the handles and attachment points above the windows. Fabric can then be draped over this cord. If you have basic sewing skills, functional curtains can easily be made. As an added bonus, curtains provide privacy and prevent strangers from seeing your personal contents. Storage Use plastic bins to organize your clothing, food and climbing gear. The bins are durable, waterproof and more easily accessible than traditional backpacks. Entertainment Laptops and portable DVD players and are perfect for watching rest day films but require a traditional power source for extended use. Get yourself a cigarette lighter inverter. These rigs allow you to plug in conventional electronics and run them from your car battery. Return to top Booty Anasazi Verde – 5.10 The Verde is 5.10’s update to the venerable Anasazi Lace-up (aka: the Pinks). Like the lace-up, the Verde excels on edgy, gently overhanging terrain. This performance comes from combining a sensitive supportive midsole with 5.10’s sticky new Onyx rubber. The midsole provides control on small holds while the Onyx rubber supplies the friction. Onyx is 5.10’s best performing all-around rubber with excellent friction, great edging and superior durability. The lined synthetic upper on the Verde is similar to the old lace-up; it’s soft, comfortable and conforms to your foot with minimal stretch. The heel cup however, is where the Verde parts ways with its older sibling. Unlike the lace-up, the new Verde delivers a deep secure heel that hooks significantly better than its predecessor. If you liked the old heel design, you may be disappointed by the heel change. For everyone else, the new design is a huge improvement. This a great technical shoe perfectly suited for difficult climbing. Return to top	Contest of the Month Now you can win a brand new Tendon 9.2 mm Master 70 m rope valued at approximately $150, by subscribing to the FREE Gripped e-Mag. Simply forward us your email address to be entered for the draw that will take place on April 30, 2007. Enter as often as you like, just as long as you provide a new valid email for a friend that would also like to receive the Gripped e-Mag for each new entry. Offer closes April 28, 2007. Enter your email or a friend’s email HERE Congratulations to Ryan Arsenault. As the winner of the March contest, he is the proud owner of a new Metolius Supercam valued at approximately $70. Gripped Presents 2007 MEC Canadian National Bouldering Championships are May 12 & 13 at Coyote Rock Gym, Ottawa. Click above for details! We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publication Assistance Program (PAP) and the Canada Magazine Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage toward our mailing and project costs.
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