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ISSUE 322

FEATURES
20

First Ascents
Matt Samet, Alli Rainey, and
other rst ascensionists talk
about the what, why, and how of
establishing new routes.
By Andrew Tower

42

Golden Piton Awards

Climbing editors debated the
biggest, baddest, coldest, and
boldest ascents of 2013 to bring
you the winners of the 12th
annual Golden Piton Awards.

ANDREW BURR

Ice isolation: Erik Kelly on

the solitary Coats Corner
(WI4), Huntington Canyon,
Utah, located about 25
miles from Joes Valley,
Utah, a premier bouldering
destination that also houses
world-class ice in winter.
ON THE COVER:
Golden Piton winner Hazel
Findlay stems the Yosemite
testpiece Book of Hate
(5.13d). While some can
chimney through this cleancut corner, most endure 115
feet of pumped calves and
sweaty palms.
Photo: Ben Ditto

By Dougald MacDonald

58

Inside the Sufferfest

Biking to and climbing all of
Californias 14,000-foot peaks
seemed like a fun idea. Then
came the ats, spats,
and butt gobies.
By Alex Honnold and Cedar Wright

66

The Eternal Comeback

Pro climber Majka Burhardt is no
stranger to injuries. Her secret
to recovery? Patience. Here, she
sheds light on coming back from
common climbing maladies.

CONTENTS

2|

FEBRUARY 2014

climbing.com

|3

issue 322

4|

february 2014

contents

skills
26

No Partner, No Problem
Learn the art of self-belay on
toprope, and you can work your
project anytime.

Editors Note

10
Flash

75

19

What Ueli Packed

In early October 2013, Swiss
ber-alpinist Ueli Steck made an
audacious, blazing-fast ascent of
the 8,000-foot south face of
Annapurna. Heres what he did
and didnt pack.

The Guide

health and
traininG

35
Gear

40
Semi-Rad

28
78
Single-Hitch Belay Escape
Escaping a belay doesnt have to
involve tons of complicated knots
and steps. Guide Eli Helmuth
shows how to do it with one
simple hitch.

Mind/Body Training
First ascents involve a lot of heavy
lifing and elbow grease. Lighten
your mental load with these fun
gym games that help you deal
with the unknowns of new routing.

75
Clinics

76
80
Rope Team Basics
Want to climb Mt. Rainier next
summer, but have no idea how to
move on snow? No worriesour
in-house guide explains the
basics.

Mixed Climbing Conditioning

The 2014 Winter Olympics
includes a mixed climbing event.
Heres a look inside one athletes
training regimenone you can
do indoors at any time of year to
improve your own icy pursuits.

Gear
30
Power vs. Hand Drills
Want to get into route developing? Get the inside scoop on when
to use a power drill or a hand drill.

35
Approach Shoes
When getting to the climb is as
big an adventure as the climb
itself, turn to one these ve
top performers.

andrew burr

Crack master Jean-Pierre

Peewee Ouellet nabbed
the rst ascent of Mexican
Snow Fairy (5.13+), Longs
Canyon, Utah, in December
2012. Ouellet used a toilet
brush to scrub and clean
the almost 150-foot splitter nger crack.

climbing.com

|5

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WAS MOST InSPIRATIOnAL TO yOU ThIS yEAR?
Ueli Steck. The strength,
skill, speed, and balls this
took is otherwordly.

editorial

Editor
Shannon daviS
Art Director
Jacqueline mccaffrey

hazel findlay is
my hero!
Ueli and his
climbspecically, his
downclimb.
Downclimbing
is scarier than
climbing up.
Ueli. Afer what
happened on
Everest, its
great to see
him back at it
doing amazing
things in the
mountains.

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DURABLY WATERPROOF,
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COMFORT AND PROTECTION

Gear Editor
Julie elliSon

jeff
Lowe.
he put
up about
half the
climbs I
dream of
doing.

Destinations Editor
amanda fox
Editor at Large
dougald macdonald
Senior Contributing
Photographer
andrew Burr
Staff Photographer
Ben fullerton

Outdoor Group Associate Producer

cryStal Sagan
Psicobloc!
Intern
So sick!
devon Barrow
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kilian jornet. hes mixing disciplines

in a way thats superhuman in terms of
tness, but very human (and accessible)
in terms of skills and gear.

browse areas, routes,

photos, comments, etc
offline, at the crag, on
the rock.

EDITORS
NOTE

Youve Already Won

BY SHANNON DAVIS

THE VIEW FROM THE TOP OF WASHER WOMAN TOWER IS ONE

OF THE FINEST IVE SEEN ALL YEAR. Far below this 500-foot
behemoth, the White Rim of Canyonlands National Park
forms an amoebic border around countless red canyons and winding networks of striated rock. My climbing partner, Brad Petersen,
director of the Utah Ofce of Recreation, points out the Colorado
River and the Maze District beyond.

mountainproject.com/mobileapps
iphone anD anDroiD

When we open the summit register, we nd the notebook inside to be signed

just infrequently enough to be pretty gratifying. Not too many people stand here,
and weve topped out on one of those perfect fall desert days that makes you
think about never going home. For me, the climbing was difcult enough to be
enjoyably challenging but not impossible. A perfect day. This was my personal
Golden Piton moment of 2013.
Climbings Golden Piton Awards, a program now in its 12th year, honor the
biggest and boldest events in the world of climbing. And it was one helluva
year. The feats youll read about in editor at large Dougald MacDonalds feature (starting on p. 42) are
absolutely
superhuman
and truly inspiring. No,
Ill never solo the south
face of Annapurna or send
V15 (dude, please), but the
achievements at the upper
echelon of our sport have
a beautiful trickle-down
efect. Dedicate yourself
to climbing, and youre an
instant winner with a lifetime of personal Golden
Piton moments ahead.

WORK FOR IT!

SCORE AN EXPEDITION GRANT In the six years that the Millet Expedition Project has existed, it has funded 70 expeditions to 40 countries. Thats more than 300
individual winners practicing 30 diferent disciplines (from climbing to diving to
skiing) and getting the scratch to set out on the trip of a lifetime. Where would you
go? Belgian paraplegic climber Vanessa Francois summited El Cap with a grant from
the project last fall. Now, for the rst time, Millet, the French gear and apparel company, is opening the project to U.S. entrantsand Im a judge! Head to milletusa.
com, download the application, lm a three-minute video introducing yourself
and any team members, and send the whole deal to milletexpeditionproject@
milletusa.com before March 13, 2014. Inspire us!
SUMMIT FOR SOMEONE Last fall, a dozen readers joined me in raising money

DownloaD your local

areas, trip Destinations,
or all 100,000+ routes.
once DownloaDeD, you no
longer neeD to be online!

for Big City Mountaineers, a non-prot that gets under-resourced urban teens into
the wilderness on weeklong expeditions. The resultsboosts in graduation rates
and better relationships with peers and mentorsare astonishing, and our crew
ensured that 70 more kids had all direct costs for their trips covered. Were doing
it again this year, and as an incentive, every reader who joins our team gets a free
guided climbing trip into Wyomings Wind River Range and a gear package totalling more than $700. Find out how to join at climbing.com/sfswinds.

scarpa.com/phantom-guide

You only get 26,320 days, more or less. How will you spend them?

flash

Paige Claassen

Solitary Men
(5.13d/5.14a)
Val Masino, Italy

Climbing for a cause: Paige

Claassen has been traveling
since July 1, 2013, on her
Lead Now climbing tour
with a mission to raise
money for women and
children around the world.
She began her stint in Waterval Boven, South Africa,
where she made impressive
ascents of several 5.14s,
including Digital Warfare
and Rolihlahla, and at press
time, Claassen had just
lef China for India. Despite
humid and drizzly conditions in Italy, she managed
the rst female ascent of
Solitary Men (5.13d/5.14a),
a bouldery route on a
30-degree overhang. Check
out the video series of
Claassen and her team at
climbing.com/video.
RICh CRoWDeR

climbing.com

| 11

flash

12 |

february 2014

Dani Arnold

Eidfjord, norway

Because of its northern

locale, Norway only gets
a few hours of light
every day in the winter,
so ice climbers in the
area are well-versed
in ignoring nightfall
as an obstacle to
climbing. In January
2013, photographer
Thomas Senf worked
with Swiss light artist
David Hediger, a team
of professional climbers, and Mammut to
illuminate these frost
giants, named from
Norse mythology. The
setup required several
different rope arrangements, complicated
pulley systems, 500
meters of cable, colored
ares, spotlights, and
headlamps.
THoMaS SeNf/
MaMMuT

Peter Vintoniv

long Dong Silver

(5.9 A3)
San Rafael Swell,
Utah

Climbers sure cant

resist their towers,
even when said spires
are characterized by
loose rock, poor protection, and only 100 feet
of climbing, like youll
nd on this minaret
west of Moab, utah.
Photographer andrew
Burr calls it some of
the most horrifying aid
climbing around. one
hangerless bolt and
an anchor positioned
below the true summit comprise the
permanent protection,
so bring your hammer
and some long, thin
pitons (as well as a
few large cams for
the top) to have some
semblance of safety. If
you do get the courage
to surmount this spire,
enjoy your 360-degree
view of the surreal
moonscape.
aNDrew Burr

climbing.com

| 13

flash

Brittany Grifth
Sicilian (5.11)
Indian Creek, Utah

Thanks to its relatively short

stature and location 50 feet
to the right of the ultraclassic splitter Scarface
(also 5.11), the 50-foot Sicilian probably doesnt get
as much love as it deserves.
This fun route moves up
nger and thin-hand cracks,
with abundant options for
nger-stacks, jams, and
laybacks. This photo appears in Chris Nobles new
book, Women Who Dare
(falcon.com), which proles
20 of North Americas best
female climbers, including
Grifth, Lynn Hill, Sasha
DiGiulian, Steph Davis,
and more. Personal stories
of success and challenge
accompany dozens of aweinspiring photos.
CHriS NobLe

Read our review and see more photos

from the book at climbing.com.

14 |

febrUary 2014

climbing.com

| 15

flash

Sarah Hart

Born To Be (5.12b)
Vancouver Island, British
Columbia, Canada

Sarah Hart spends just

another day cragging with
me in a tree snapping
pictures, photographer and
area guidebook author Rich
Wheater says. This short
but powerful route features
Rie, Colorado-esque
limestone in the unlikely
spot of Vancouver Island. As
part of the western province
of British Columbia, a
hotbed for climbing (think
Squamish), the island itself
is home to limestone routes,
basalt bouldering, and
granite domes.
RICH WHeATeR

16 |

feBruary 2014

Amanda Berezowski

Devils Butt (V5)

Virgin Gorda, British
Virgin Islands

lem, and Spring Baywhich

are home to most of the
established problems,
though theres potential for
dozens more. The rock is
Take one step onto the
textured, with everything
pristine beaches of Virgin
Gorda, and youll realize why from crimpy slabs to splitters to gymnastic roofs.
this Caribbean hotspot is
gaining stature as a climb- Bring extra chalk if youre a
ing destination: Hundreds heavy sweater, as temperaof huge, immaculate granite tures never dip below 60F.
Find more info in A Guide
boulders are scattered
along the sand, with most to Bouldering and Traveling
lines in the V0 to V5 range. in the Virgin Islands ($25,
The island is home to four xedpin.com).
national parksDevils Bay,
RICH CRowDeR
the Baths, Fallen Jerusa-

clImBInG.com

| 17

issue 322

First Ascents
First ascensionists are the backbone
of our sport; without them, what
would we climb on? we rounded up a
panel of avid Faers to discuss this ofcontroversial topic, along with some
rst-person perspective of new routing. also, when to use hand drills vs.
power drills, a few training ideas, and
brand-new routes across the u.S.

Characteristic white tick marks

adorn the sides of Mexican Snow
Fairy (5.13+), Longs Canyon, utah,
while rst ascensionist Jean-Pierre
Peewee Ouellet works the route.
Peewee said the route was so
painful that he was only able to try
it once every two days.

the guide
andrew burr

cl imbing.com

| 19

the guide
first ascents

Mikey Schaefer works the 2,000foot north face of Middle cathedral

in yosemite, which he called Father
Time (5.13b). he nished it in
october 2012, following a 40-day
effort over two years.

by Andrew tower
The rules of accepted

practices in route development are often unclear

and confusing; they differ
from region to region, usually because of the areas
history, local ethics, laws
regarding drilling, and more.
To help decode the topic,
we picked the brains of a
unique cross section of rst
ascensionists to help paint
a picture of the rst ascent
landscape in America today.

The Panel (1 of 5)

The Art of
Development
Facebook Flash Poll

Whats the best/worst/funniest route name youve come across in the U.S.?
20 |

february 2014

interview
advice, wisdom, and
motives from some of
the sports top rst
ascentionists

Zen and the Art of Masturbation (5.12d), Red River Gorge, Kentucky //

john dicKey

Matt segal
Matt segals rst fA
was Iron Monkey (5.14)
in eldorado Canyon,
Colorado, in 2006a
traditional line segal
initially stepped away
from to become
more competent and
condent in placing
gear. since establishing
eldorados hardest trad
route, hes put up hard,
often runout lines in
the modern headpoint stylepracticing on toprope to
dial in the movesto
manage the calculated
risk required for such
ascents.

Developers have
long been catalysts
in the climbing
community. How do
you view the role of
developers, and is it
understood by other
climbers?
Matt Segal: I think there
has always been controversy around rst ascents,
and there will always be.
Climbing is somewhat of
an arbitrary activity with
no real rules. Each rst
ascensionist makes his or
her own rules, and its only
natural that someone is
going to be challenged.

john dicKey

Alli Rainey: From the time

I rst started climbing in
1992, it seems like climbers
have argued and bickered
about ethics around
everything in climbing. I
tend to think in a more
unity-oriented manneras
in, its more important for
us to get along despite our
differences. We should
present a united front to
create climbing coalitions, educate the public
and young climbers, and
get more people climbing. Yeah, the crags are
crowded, but obesity is
an epidemic, and people
just need to get outside
and do something! Which
is why we need to keep
bolting, too, of course. So
Id rather put my energy
into issues that I consider
more crucial.
Jonathan Siegrist: I think
that in general, the public
has absolutely no idea
what it takes to develop
a route, let alone develop
an entire area. There will
always be a dialogue about
the importance of conservation and the desire for
accessand there should
be. I wasnt around, but it
sounds like things were actually worse in other eras.
Nowadays, you chop a
tree down, and you receive
empty Internet threats.

Matt Segal makes the rst

ascent of orangutan Roof
(5.13+), originally an aid
line, in independence Pass,
colorado, in 2008.

Back then, you bolted

a crack, and you would
actually get the shit kicked
out of you. Its all about
where we draw the line as
a community for what is
right and what is wrong.
Developers are denitely at
the forefront when making
those ethical decisions, and
its not always black and
white.
Matt Samet: Heres how I
put it: People who put up
routes actively and avidly
are much more in contact
with the ethical boundaries

of our sport than people

who just repeat routes. Any
time the sport has been
pushed forward, its been
via a rst ascent. Youre not
just exploring your limit,
but also what you can do
within the interface of the
stone. I think people dont
understand how big a gray
area it is when you start
preparing and cleaning
rock. I dont think theres
any black and white.
There have been plenty
of asinine cases where the
community feedback is
overwhelmingly negative,

but there are plenty of

sport routes that dont
exist without tactics like
aggressive cleaning or
gluing. I think its very
easy if you havent put up
routesespecially sport
routesto assume some
stance of ethical purity,
but, you know, all rocks
are different. Cliffs vary.
Routes can have perfect
rock and then 10 feet of
choss that you have to
clean. When you get into

it, you start to understand

that, and youre much less
likely to criticize others
climbs.
Cole Fennel: I think
there is probably more
controversy now just
because the number of
climbers is far greater than
ever before. The Internet
certainly isnt helping in
that department.

Magnolia Thunderpussy (5.9), Granite Mountain, Arizona // darkie the Bum Beast (5.12d), Foster Falls, Tennessee // Liberaces Anus (5.9-), Socorro, new Mexico
climbing.com

| 21

the guide
First Ascents

THe PANel (2 oF 5)

There always seems

to be some bit of
controversy around
the secretive nature
of area and route
development. Do
you think that
routes or areas are
the property of the
discoverers until
they feel its okay to
share the location?
Segal: I dont think that areas are the property of the
developer; that said, I have
kept projects a secret until
I sent them. When you nd
a route, clean it, unleash
the sequence, chalk it,
etc., you get attached, and
your ego gets involved.
You dont want someone
to come out and steal
all your hard work. Some
people dont really respect
the art of rst ascents, and
they think its all about
climbing hard. But its not.
More than half the battle
is having the vision to see
a line. They would be skipping the whole process.
Samet: Ive never found an
entire virgin area before,
so Ive never really faced
that dilemma. I got in early
in Rie [Colorado], but it
wasnt much a secret then.
I had an interesting talk
with Jason Keith, though.
[He is a former employee
at the Access Fund, and he
still consults with them.]
He mentioned that most
access issues dont come
up at existing crags that
already have crowds. They
come up at new crags
where someones kept

the whole thing a secret,

and then word leaks out.
Like if the place had been
developed in a vacuum,
and then suddenly a bunch
of people show up and
all kinds of weird stuff
happens. I can see both
perspectives. It certainly
helps to have feedback
from the community when
youre developing, but it
also helps not to have a
circus descending.
Fennel: I see both sides,
but its hard for me to take
pity on people who bitch
about secret crags. They
arent the ones putting
in all of the effort to get
an area established in the
rst place. Im not a secretive person by any means,
but I denitely dont
choose to spray about
how sick new walls are until the nders have picked
their lines. That said, I bolt
for more than just myself.
Unlike some developers
who primarily bolt routes
near their limit, I really like
nding crags with a good
grade range, and then
fully developing iteven
the mega-moderates. I
probably would feel a
little different if I lived in
an area that has crowding
issues, though.

Why do you think

there arent more
women out there
developing areas?
Rainey: There are still far
fewer female climbers
than male climbers, so
thats part of it. Also, its a
ton of physical labor, and

you get really dirty. Maybe

thats just a stereotypical
thought that womenon
the wholedont like to
get insanely dirty and covered in moss, spider webs,
dirt, and drill dust as much
as men. Nor do they like
to use heavy power tools
and show up at home with
bashed knuckles from
the wrench slipping. Or
maybe they do, and Im
just out of touch with that
aspect of femininity. Also,
I nd it impossible to bolt
and climb at full power.
I have to do one or the
other. Bolting wrecks me.
It doesnt seem to wreck
the guys quite as much,
but maybe thats just my
perception or excuse.
Samet: There are still
more males than females
in climbing. That balance
is changing, but I think
its just boys with power
tools. Seriously! Why is it
that its all men in manual
labor and construction?
I dont know. Men like to
bang on shit, hammer shit,
drill it, break it, and use
big expensive tools And
women know better.
Siegrist: Im not totally
sure. I suppose youd be
better off asking the ladies.
Regardless, Id love to see
more women establishing
routes, and Im guessing
that with the wealth of talent out there now, we will
be seeing more of it.
Fennel: Beats me. At my
home crag, we hardly have
any women climbing, let
alone developing.

Jeff Mahoney in the process of

bolting his new route, Peanut
butter and Chocolate (5.8+),
alabama Hills, California.

New Additions

Put one of these brand-spankinnew routes on your tick list

Route development isnt limited to 5.14 projectors
and sponsored climbers. From the work of full-time
parents to weekend warriors to college students
comes hundreds of rst ascents across the country
every year. We worked with mountainproject
.com to select a few soon-to-be classics spanning
the states, from historic crags like Seneca Rocks to
unpublished areas in the Washington hills.
Peanut Butter and Chocolate (5.8+)
Chocolate Block, Alabama Hills, Sierra Nevada,
California
October 2013; Jeff Mahoney, Chris Wing, Katie
Martin, Alex Lau, Carole Christianson, Shin Nimura,
Mark Buntaine, Julian Lim
This 175-foot sport climb holds some of the better rock in the area, despite the obvious crumbling
cookie ake that Mahoney thinks will be gone fairly
soon with trafc. Thoughtful climbing, fun moves,
and a few runouts lead to one of the best views
in the Hills, Mahoney says. As far as having a huge
FA party, Mahoney says hes all about sharing the
experience with climbing friends who may not ever
have the opportunity. Its about sharing and having
funand scaring the bejeezus out of the group with
all the holds that end up breaking on virgin rock.

aunt Jemimas bisquick Thunderdome (5.12d), Ten Sleep, wyoming // Post Orgasmic depression (5.11a), Pinnacles national Monument, California // nuke
22 |

FeBruAry 2014

alex lau

Alli Rainey
This Wyoming local began her development career after bolting a 5.11 on the clean
and solid rock of Shinto Wall in Ten Sleep, a limestone sport crag in her home state.
Finishing the drilling in a mere three hours gave her a false sense of the strenuous work
required for cleaning and bolting routes, but she went on to make rst ascents of
more than 15 5.13s in the area.

is a rst female
ascent a positive
thing?
Rainey: I think its a big
positive! It probably
inspires other women
more than rst ascents by
men. And we are not men;
we are womenwe dont
compete against men in
athletics for a reason. We
just have different bodies,
and thats the way it is. For
me, its most inspiring to
see other women climb
strong and try hard.

andrew burr

How has
development
changed over the
years for you and for
others?
Samet: Regarding access,
we used to think we could
just walk up to a cliff and
start spraying bolts into it,
and climbers certainly did!
I mean, we did that only 25
years ago. Land managers
had seen very few bolts
in America, and most of
the time these crags were
godforsaken places that
no one went to or cared
about anyway. You could
drive into places like Rie
or even the Flatirons [in
Boulder] or Eldorado and
drill bolts. Climbers put up
so many routes so rapidly in
the mid- to late 1980s that
land managers didnt catch
up until the mid-1990s. Now
everyones caught up, and
if you go bolting a crag on
someones private land,
youre going to be in a lot
of trouble.
Also, now people put
up a lot more moderate
sport routes. You didnt
used to see that. Back in
the day, there werent that
many hard routes to try, so
people who were bolting
routes were just trying to
nd something harder to
climb. Then this whole
idea of pleasure climbing

emerged and took off.

A lot of people who can
climb 5.12, 5.13, or even 5.14
are putting up 5.10 because
they know theres a huge
demand. Originally, when
sport climbing was conceived, you only put bolts
on faces where there was
no other option.

Chris Hirsch employs a hand

drill on eye of Sauron (5.11-),
Custer State Park, South
dakota.

is it the rst
ascensionists
responsibility to
regard the safety
of future climbers
when establishing
a climb?
Siegrist: Yes, to an extent
that is reasonable. Bolts will
eventually fail regardless
of the metal or placement.
But it is the responsibility of the bolter to make
routes safe for the foreseeable future, and clean
routes to a degree that
avoids seriously injuring the
climber or belayer. That
being said, there is also
an important distinction
between bad bolting and
airy bolting. I prefer not
clipping every other move,
and I also enjoy the mental
battle of runout routes. So
I dont bolt clip-ups, but I
also dont think that this
makes me an unsafe bolter.
Segal: No! But it is their responsibility to give an honest account of their ascent.
Did they toprope it rst?
Did they pre-place the gear
or plug it on lead? I think
thats the only responsibility of rst ascensionists.
Rainey: For me, yes. I approach it this way: I dont
want anyone to die or
get hurt on a sport route
I established because I
didnt clean it well enough
or I put in a bad bolt. But,
as a whole, when youre
getting on any route, it is
buyer beware. Its certainly
a mistake as a climber to

THe Panel (3 of 5)

Jonathan Siegrist
A consummate sport climbing developer and nomad, Jonathan Siegrist is driven by
an unyielding desire to establish hard, aesthetic lines. So far, hes managed to rack up
around 20 rst ascents in the 5.14 rangeup to 5.14d!and is always prowling for more.

the Gay whales for Jesus (5.7), Smith rock, Oregon // Harry butthole Pussy Potter (5.8), Horseshoe Canyon ranch, arkansas // The Morning Poos (5.8),
climbing.com

| 23

the guide
first ascents

automatically assume a
route or a hold is safe
just because its there.
The newer the route, the
more potential for danger.
People should go into it
with this awareness.
Samet: I dont think its
that binary, but I think
its the responsibility
of the rst ascensionist
to be clear about the
style in which he or she
established a route to let
climbers know about the
potential risks. Take my
route Primate (5.13) on the
south face of Seal Rock in
the Flatirons. I toproped
the unholy f*** out of it,
and then I pinkpointed it
with a couple pieces preplaced that would have
probably ripped. But I
never said I did otherwise.
I never let off the impression that you could just
show up at the base with
some cams and go for it.
You have to be honest
with your community and
build some clarity.
Fennel: Yes and no. First
ascensionists need to be
putting in quality hardware, but individual climbers need to have good
enough judgment to make
decisions for themselves.

red-tagging: Do
you have a rule?
Segal: Be respectful and
talk to the person who is
claiming the route as his
or her own. Making a rst
ascent takes a lotmore
than most imagineto
clean, bolt, and gure out
protection and sequences.
But I think climbers ought
to know their role, and if
they are not actively trying
something, they should
pass it on.
Rainey: In Ten Sleep, we

dont red-tag. The equipper gets credit and naming

rights. Whoever wants
to can climb it whenever
its ready. Of course, if
someone has a problem
with this, he or she could
red-tag it, and everyone
would respect it... for a
while, anyway.
Siegrist: Red-tagging is 100
percent legit. Establishing
routes is hard-ass work,
and it takes a ton of time
and money. Ive paid for
every bolt, hanger, drill bit,
perma-draw, and drill Ive
ever used. It adds up. But,
most important, its the
vision of the developer,
and we all get attached
to a dream. Developers
should have plenty of
time to do their thing.
There is no standard time
limitwhenever that
person has given up, it
should be open. It would
be bullshit if you bolted
your dream route and
tried it every weekend
for six years, and then
some wanker came along
and was like, Hey dude,
times up! Get a drill and
a wire brush, and make
your own contribution. If
you are busy, or you dont
plan to get up there for a
season or more, its time
to open that gem to the
community.
Samet: If I bolt it and have
a tag on it, stay the f***
off! I dont know about the
length of time. If youre
actively trying it and youve
put all this time, money,
passion into it, I think its
lame for someone to jump
on it and take the rst
ascent.
Fennel: One year after
equipping or as long as the
developer is putting serious effort into it. I respect
red-tagging in all aspects.
Not that I think that
people should physically
hang red tags on boulders,
but I think climbers should

THe PaNeL (4 Of 5)

Matt Samet
The former editor
in chief of Climbing caught the rst
ascent bug 25 years
ago as a teenager. Hes
established everything
from steep limestone
sport lines to X-rated
traditional fright-fests,
and hes witnessed
rsthand the oftencontroversial growing
pains the world of
development and
bolting has endured.

give whoever found and

cleaned a boulder some
time to work a line before
jumping on it.

Having seen the

violent nature
of cleaning new
routes, it seems
like the difference
between cleaning
and manufacturing
is a gray area to the
layperson. Is there
a rule for whats OK
to do and whats
not among rst
ascensionists, or
is it based more
on situational
awareness?
Rainey: The latter. It really
depends on the crag, the
quality of the rock, and
what it will take to make it
safe and climbable. Some
areas are so clean that a
developer can literally just
put the bolts in, brush
a couple holds, and be
done; others, not so much.
In my mind, sport climbing
is supposed to be safe and
fun, so the primary goal
is to develop routes in a
fashion that allows this to
happennot leaving frag-

Jealous of Gentry (5.9)

Little Seneca Lake, Wind river range, Wyoming
July 2013; Brett Verhoef
Most people overlook Little Seneca Lake on their
way to classic backcountry alpine climbs in the Wind
Rivers like Gannett Peak. However, that area in the
Winds has a wealth of undeveloped potential due
to its remote location, says Verhoef. A pumpy hand
crack splits the rst 20 feet, and then it eases back in
angle and difculty. Consider a spotter for the crux,
which is getting off the ground with no protection.
Glasnost Crack (5.10-)
upper Wall, Capulin Canyon, Cochiti Mesa,
New Mexico
November 2013; Josh Smith, George Perkins, Calita
Quesada
This trad line offers a second pitch to two neighboring moderates, Moondog (5.9) and Full Monty
(5.10-). A hand crack leads to a wide section below
a roof, and then back to hands above, followed by
face climbing to the top.
A Touch Too Much (5.10+)
South Peak, Seneca rocks, West Virginia
November 2013: Andy Weinmann, DJ Shalvey
A long reach with no good feet at the crux
inspired the name of this new route (that, and some
classic AC/DC). Seneca Rocks has a storied history,
and some believe its climbed out. But Weinmann
discovered this gem while establishing another line
called Lost and Found. Sustained and steep, A Touch
Too Much continues to push 5.10 climbers after the
crux with a series of crimps, edges, and sidepulls.
Fly Fighter (5.11b)
Iron Mountain Crag, Skagit, Washington
August 2013; Brandon Workman
Steep, physical, and mostly gear with great rests,
says Workman. It turned out to be a dandy. Dont
be intimidated by the chimney; its easier than it
looks. Two bolts protect some chossy spots, but the
rest of the route takes sinker cams. Bonus: The approach to this crag is only about ve minutes.
Nyctophiliac (5.12-)
West end Wall, Volunteer Canyon, arizona
November 10, 2013; Jeremy Schlick, Wade Forest
Powerful hand and nger jamming on steep terrain
leads to several boulder problems, and a good rest
appears before the nger-crack crux. Nyctophiliac
is certainly one of my nest lines, says Schlick. The
gear is unbelievably good.

Clear Creek Canyon, Colorado // Magical Chrome-Plated Semi-Automatic Enema Syringe (5.7), Lumpy Ridge, Colorado // Drunk Rednecks with Golf Clubs
24 |

february 2014

Sometimes, you dont need expensive

tools for rst ascents: Peewee uses a
toilet-bowl scrubber to clean the dirt
out of Mexican Snow Fairy (5.13+).

ile stuff behind that can

potentially hurt people on
the rock, and making sure
there are no ground-fall
potentials, death clips,
ledges to hit, and so forth.

ANDreW burr

Siegrist: It largely depends

on the area. Some areas
require aggressive cleaning
that borders on manipulation, or perhaps glue reinforcement, and this is just
the way it is. Other areas are
blessed with near-perfect
rock and take only a wire
brush to clean up. In general, you know when youre
cleaning a route, and you

know when youre changing

it. When in doubt, always
consult a local.
Samet: I think its a pretty
big gray area. Unless the
things been drilledyou
know, Bosched out with a
bitpeople arent going
to know its chipped. By
the time a route gets
popular, so much chalk
gets built up that its hard
to tell the chipped holds
from the natural.
I have different hammers, framing and geology,
and they have different
heads. Is using an adze
chipping? Should I use just
the head? Whos to say?

The Panel (5 of 5)

Cole Fennel
Cole Fennel is a Fayetteville, Arkansasbased photographer and avid FAer. Hunting around the Arkansas
hills for new crags, hes put up somewhere around 100
routes and established entire new crags on public land.

Once you have the hammer and youre banging

on another tool, youve
probably crossed a line.
If youre using a chisel or
a drill bit to clean, youve
probably crossed a line, but
I think everything up to
that is probably fair game.
If you dont take loose rock
off routes, its going to hurt
you, cut your rope, or kill
your belayer.
Fennel: Thats a gray area
for sure. I have never
chipped a hold or drilled
a pocket, but I have glued
the shit out of some
choss, and Ive also been
part of some serious
cleaning efforts. I guess
it would be hypocritical
to say I am totally against
manufacturing or enhancing holds because I spend
a good chunk of my
summers in Rie, but I
never see myself crossing
that line.

if you had to
give burgeoning
developers one
piece of advice
as they break into
establishing their
own routes and
boulder problems,
what would it be?
Fennel: Be open to criticism.
Segal: Always check your
intentions, and dont let
your ego and the desire
to be the rst cloud your
judgment.
Rainey: Clean it well, and
when in doubt, rip it off.
Better to leave a huge rock
scar than to leave a ake
that could kill a future
belayer. If you dont agree
with that, then dont bolt
it. Find a cleaner line.
Siegrist: Find a badass
old-schooler that has
spent years bolting and
pick his or her brain. Buy

some beers, sit down,

and get everything out
of that person that you
can. A mistake in bolting
can mean everything from
serious injury to access
endangerment. Look to
the masters for advice and
mentorship. They know
whats up.
Samet: Spend as much
time as possible assessing
a line before drilling it. If
it seems difcult because
it needs cleaning or is
overhanging, do as much
as you can on toprope
or with removable bolts.
Youll save yourself more
work if you do your
research. Id also say dont
be committed to putting
up every route you look
at. Some of them just
arent worth it. Ive wasted
hardware on something
that no one ever climbs
because I just couldnt
stop myself.

(5.8+), Diablo Canyon, New Mexico // Panty Shields (V3), Horse Pens 40, Alabama // Princess, I Wanna Leaha (5.9+), Spearsh Canyon, South Dakota
climbing.com

| 25

the
guide

first ascents

SkillS

Solo Toproping
Maximize your time on a project with basic self-belay techniques
By DougalD MacDonalD

26 |

february 2014

Anchor the rope.

For simplicitys sake, well
assume youre toproping
a single-pitch climb. Ideally, your rope should be
clipped to a solid anchor
below the top of the cliff,
so the rope does not rub
over any edges. If youre
setting up the toprope
from above, build a backup anchor above the cliff,
and then set your primary
anchor below the lip.
In this method, a static
rope is safest and easiest
to use. Safest because
it wont bounce much
under load; this reduces
dangerous wear. Easiest
because the devices will
track well along a static
rope as you move. Climbers experienced with this
method recommend a
10mm or thicker static
rope for security and rope
longevity. Note: If youre
using a second rope as a
backup, this second rope
must be dynamic, in order
to absorb the shock youll
generate if your primary
system fails.
After returning to the
bottom of the climb, coil
the extra rope and let it
hang above the ground,
or clip a water bottle

or other weight at the

bottom of the ropethis
will add a little tension,
helping your self-belay
system slide smoothly up
the rope at the start of
the pitch.
Set up your self-belay.
Although many different
ascenders and progresscapture pulleys can be

used, most climbers using

this method prefer the
Petzl Mini Traxion or Petzl
Microcender, or a combination of the two. Petzl
recommends always using
two different devices to
maximize the benet of
the backup.
Following the manufacturers instructions, attach
the two devices to the

rope, one above the other.

Make sure the devices
cams are properly locked
onto the ropeinattention at this step is the
most common cause of
self-belay failure.
Clip both devices to
your belay loop. You must
use either oval locking
carabiners or anti-crossloading locking biners.

Supercorn

When Tommy Caldwell or

Mayan Smith-Gobat work
a free climb high on El
Capitan, the crux may be
nding a belayer willing to
put in days of duty in an
isolated and exposed location. Often, the solution
is to go alone, rehearsing
the key pitches by solo
toproping. Whether youre
an active rst ascensionist
or just want to do some
laps after work without a
partner, solo toproping is a
handy technique to add to
your repertoire.
Though there are several methods, all share a
couple of aspects: Before
ascending, the climber
xes one or two ropes
to an anchor above the
pitch, and then climbs
self-belayed by ascenders
or progress-capture pulleys clipped to the rope or
ropes. (A progress-capture
pulley is usually used for
hauling a loadit allows
the rope to roll smoothly
in one direction but stops
the rope if its pulled in
the other direction.)
Solo-toproping
techniques vary mainly in
their back-up methods.
And you must be backed
upnever depend on
a single device. Some
climbers hang a second
rope alongside the rst
and clip into bights pretied in the backup rope in
case the primary rope or
belay device fails. Others

climb with two different

devices clipped into two
separate ropes. (This is the
method recommended
by Petzl, which makes
the most popular devices
used for this technique.*)
Top climbers such as
Caldwell, Steph Davis, and
Matt Samet prefer the
method described here:
two devices on a single
static rope.
Heres how to do it:

*Petzl has published

an extensive analysis
of self-belay toproping, including its recommended method
and various alternatives. Google Petzl
self belay.

REALISE YOUR
EXPEDITION DREAM
ENTER BY 7 MARCH 2014, AND MAYBE YOULL BE
SELECTED AS ONE OF THE BEST 2014 PROJECTS
BY A JUDGING PANEL OF PROJECT PARTNERS.
WWW.MILLET-EXPEDITION-PROJECT.COM/EN

re
ai

de H

e Milit
up

ne

Escape the system.

There are at least two situations
where you will need to escape
from your self-belay system. At
the top of the pitch, youll need
to unclip from the devices in
order to descend. Less commonly,
you may need to escape from the
system if you cant do a move or
otherwise run into trouble.
When you reach the top of
the climb, use slings or personal
tethers to clip into the anchor. Be
careful not to climb so high that
your self-belay system bumps
into the anchorthis will make it
difcult to unweight the devices
and escape from the system. It

Final note.
Stay alert whenever you reattach
your self-belay systemwhen
youre ready to do another lap
on a route, for example. This is
where most mistakes happen. You
must be sure the cams on each ascender are properly engaging the
rope before climbing or weighting
the system again.

ut

ag

Climb.
Before starting up the pitch, test
both devices to make sure they
will lock properly under weight.
Gently bounce-test the system
in a safe position at the base,
and make sure the devices dont
interfere with each other. If the
bottom device bumps into the
top device, extend the top device
with a quickdraw, using locking
carabiners on each end of the
draw. If you do this, make sure
your chest harness is still comfortable and keeps the top device
positioned upright on the rope.
You may need to push the
devices along at the start of the
pitch, but soon the two should
slide up the rope as you climb.
If you have clipped intermediate anchors or protection points
along the route (on an overhanging climb, for example), never
climb above these pieces
without unclipping the rope
from them rst.

may help to clip long slings to the

anchor before you climb, and then
clip into these slings when you
reach the top, so you are hanging
well below the anchor.
Once you are securely anchored, remove both devices from
the now-unweighted static rope.
Attach your rappel device to the
rope, and rappel to the base of
the climb. If you must climb past
the primary anchor to retrieve
your backup anchor, rst clean the
primary anchor and pull any slack
in the rope above you through
the ascenders, before you start
climbing again. Note: Never climb
on a slack static rope using the
toprope self-belay system. A fall
onto a slack static rope could
injure you (even fatally) or cause
the system to fail.
You also need a way to get
up or down if you cant do a
move. This means youll need to
unweight the self-belay devices
mid-pitch, and then either rappel
or ascend the rope. To prepare
for this, always carry some extra
gear on your harness: an assistedbraking belay/rappel device
(Grigri, Cinch, etc.), a backup
ascender such as a Petzl Tibloc
or Wild Country Ropeman, and
a double-length sling to use as a
foot loop for ascending the rope
or unweighting the devices at your
waist. The various techniques for
escaping the system using these
devices are beyond the scope of
this article, but whichever method
you use, practice while youre still
on the ground.

Gr
o

The top device is your primary

self-belay. To keep it in the ideal
position for braking (and separate
it from the other device), connect
the top device to a chest harness,
a pair of slings draped over each
shoulder so they cross in the
middle, or a single sling. (Caldwell
drapes a headlamp strap around
his neck and clips this to his device.) Unlike a true chest harness,
this system is not load bearing,
but simply holds the device in
position. Use a bit of webbing or
an adjustable strap to connect this
system to the top ascender, using
the same clip-in hole as the locking biner on the device. Make sure
that no cords or straps from your
clothing or pack can interfere with
your self-belay devices.

e Mon

climbing.com

| 27

the
guide

first ascents

Training

Create-a-Crux

Visualize rst ascents at the gym to strengthen mind and body

By andrew Tower
a trio of Planet Granite gyms in
California. You can usually nd
him in the middle of a group of
climbers taking turns making up
problems beyond the tape they
afxed weeks before. The folks
I typically train with are a couple
of the other setters in our crew,
Zolotukhin says. Our gyms dont
usually have more than a few double-digit problems at a time, so
climbing on the same established
lines gets stale pretty quickly.
Though most of us struggle
through the more average-human
grades, its the same conundrum.
The solution? Start making up
your own problems. Besides being

a great change of pace from the

normal circuits, there are very
practical reasons for creating your
own sequences. The problems
we do set [for the gym] arent
always the best for training
purposes, Zolotukhin says. A
problem with a kneebar crux
might be fun for the customers to
project but may not be ideal for a
proper training circuit.
When you create your own
problems, you have limitless
opportunities in execution, and
youre free to practice whatever
weaknesses you have. Youll also
push yourself mentally to be more
creative in the problem-solving

process, which can help you nd

better, more efcient ways to
move through cruxes on tough
projects outside.
Weve laid out a typical training plan you can apply to your
own sessions when the going
gets tough and youve run out of
routes, or youre just looking to
spice up your training routine.

FirSt ASCent FrenZY

1. Find a group. Zolotukhin admits
to making up problems that suit
his own strengths. Having others
with fresh perspectives around
will help challenge parts of your

courtesy boulder rock club

During winter, rock climbers

experience a patience-testing
stretch of inclement weather,
making it difcult to climb outside
consistently. Consequently, more
climbers ock to the gym and
recommit to a training regime to
prepare for spring sending.
Forget the treadwall, autobelays, tedious lines for the lead
wall, and campus and hangboards.
Where youre going to thrive
is through bouldering. But we
know how boring it gets after
weeks of hiking up and down the
same taped problems. Enter Max
Zolotukhin, who climbs, trains,
and serves as a route-setter for

28 |

february 2014

climbing you may not have realized were lacking, he says. Dont
complain if one of your partners
chooses a powerful line up a
steep wall that doesnt suit your
techy, vertical skills; you might not
ace the problem, but youll gain
valuable lessons while improving
your weak points.
2. Take time to warm up. Zolotukhin spends the rst half hour
or more on easier problems. Start
at V0, and slowly work your way
up through the grades. Dont rush
the process, and dont be afraid to
repeat some harder taped problems youve already done before
you start the game.
3. Keep limits in mind. Take turns
creating problems. Look at a
wall that inspires you, and make
moves that do the same. In the
beginning, it will be harder to
create problems that arent too
easy or overly hard. With time,
though, you should be able to
strike a balance with problems
that are one to four grades below
your maximum redpoint ability.
The idea isnt to project them for
your entire climbing session, but
instead try a variety of problems
on different walls.
4. Project efciently. The best
method Zolotukhin has found
when trying harder problems is to
give a good ash attempt, but if
you fall, start again from the hold
that kicked you offnot from
the bottom. Trying the moves

in isolation will help you piece

it together instead of wearing
yourself out and cutting your
session short.
5. Let there be a winner. Whoever climbs the problem rst from
bottom to top without falling
gets to make up the next one.
Keep moving around the gym, trying different combos on different
walls. The variety will challenge all
your muscle groups and technical
skills and give you a bigger bag of
tricks to pull from when you go
outside.

FACT: 61% of climbing gyms have seen an

increase in participation/membership by
adding TRUBLUE Auto Belays*

www.autobelay.com
877-565-6885
Designed for climbers, engineered for safety.

6. Take it seriously. Zolotukhins

crew will approach made-up lines
just like any taped route in the
gym, and even come back later in
the session to repeat particularly
hard or interesting problems. If you
struggle on a certain project and
cant top out before your crew
moves on, make a point to go back
and work on that weakness.
7. Know when to quit. If you
regularly climb V7 and suddenly
have trouble on V3s and V4s, your
session might be over. However,
because theres no specic grade
attached to the problems youre
creating, and therefore no real
benchmark in difculty, it can be
hard to tell how rapidly your session is ending. Zolotukhin recommends a simple, direct method. If
you start to regress on moves that
didnt feel too bad earlier in the
session, it might be time to call it
a night.

MAXS TIPS TO CREATE

BETTER PROBLEMS:
Leave out the circus tricks. Create a problem that is relatively straightforward, with minimal feet and comfortable holds
that have little chance of causing injury.
Switch it up constantly. If you want to work certain weaknesses (e.g., crimps or dynos), thats your prerogative, but we
usually try to mix it up and not get too attached to one idea or
another.
Dont make it easy. I try to make up individual moves that
I think I wont ash, but that I can do in a couple of tries. If you
have a problem with four to six such moves, then its probably in
that one to four grades below your max zone.
Dont be scared to fail. Finding a move that may or may not
be possible for you is one of the most interesting ideas in climbing. We used to joke that if you can touch a hold, you can grab it,
and if you can grab it, then you can stick it.

Scan the code above to see how Santa Barbara Rock

Gym incorporates auto belays into their facility.
Or visit http://www.autobelay.com/climbing-gyms/

the
guide

first ascents

GeAr
Equipping a routE with bolts, no matter
the number, size, or type of hardware, is no
easy taskyou still have to drill a hole in solid
rock. what tool you use, however, can either
ease or aggravate the already-difcult task. we pitted the two
bolting options (hand and power) against each other to see
which drilling method is king of the mountain.

*we compared the specs for the petzl tam tam and rocpec
combo to the bosch 11536C-1 (only the rocpec is pictured) as
two standard setups seen in many rst ascensionists kits.

Hand drill

Power drill

Size

Much slimmer and more portable than

a power drill. Hammers typically wont
exceed a foot in length, like the popular
Petzl Tam Tam (10.4 long). The hand drills
narrowness and two-piece setup (hammer
and drill) make it as easy to stow as a
couple of cams.

At 12.25 long, a drill like the Bosch 11536C1 seems manageable when comparing its
length to a hand drill, but it is nearly as
large in width as well. The sheer bulkiness
of power drills makes them harder to pack
for long hikes to remote areas. (Imagine lling three Nalgene bottles taped
together side by side.)

Hand drill

weight

Can you say featherweight? Petzls

Rocpec drill kit with the Tam Tam hammer barely registers on the scale at 1.6
pounds, about the weight of a No. 6
Camalot. Big bonus: Hand drills are much
less expensive than power drills.

The Bosch 11536C-1 tips the scales handily

at 6.25 pounds, which can overburden
your pack on endeavors to backcountry
crags. Some, like the Bosch, come with
a slimmer, lighter battery, but they typically have a shorter lifespan.

Hand drill

drilling

Its almost barbaric in execution. Line up

your drill, and hammer it in. Twist a little,
and pound again. Repeat until youve
reached your required depth. The repetitive beating is torture on your arms and
body, making continued use exhausting.

As bolting goes, it couldnt be simpler.*

Position the drill, pull the trigger, and
push steadily until the hole is sufciently
drilled. Because power drills weigh more,
its a little tiring, but its nothing compared
to the taxing movement of hand drilling.

Power drill

limitations

Its biggest shortcoming is the energy

and time drilling by hand requires. By the
time you sink one route worth of bolts,
youll be so zapped that climbing the
damn thing will seem improbable. Plus,
its harder to create a hole as precise as
a power drills, and neater holes mean
stronger bolts.

You need energy, and not the kind you

get from rest and a granola bar. Power
drills run on batteries, and if youre out
of juice, youre out of luck. Though battery technology is steadily improving,
drills still suck up power like a camel at
an oasis.

Power drill

Hand vs. power: which drill to use on the rock

edge

By Andrew Tower

Smackdown!
30 |

february 2014

*ThaT doesnT mean bolTing is a simple underTaking. if youre considering drilling, you
should consulT a seasoned veTeran for besT pracTices and local eThics.

ben fullerton

Category

Category

Hand drill

Power drill

Speed

Depending on the rock type, an average

hand-driller can spend upward of 30
minutes per hole.

With the right technique, you can power

through each new hole in about 45
seconds.

Power drill

learning Curve

First-timers can expect some serious

arm soreness and likely some botched
holes. Plus, you might give up too early
(because its so tedious), and thus drill
too short a hole. (Never an issue with a
power drill: Braaapppppppp!)

Though its more involved than punching a screw through drywall to hang a
picture frame, the same principles apply.
A steady hand will yield clean bolt holes
right out of the box.

Power drill

acceptability

If youre allowed to bolt in an area, then

youre always going to be able to use a
hand drill.

Many areas, including national parks,

ban the use of power drills within their
climbing zones, narrowing your options
if you want to place bolts.

Hand drill

durability

Hand drills dont have moving parts or

batterieswith the simplicity comes
durability.

Power drills are no slouches on toughness.

Theyre made to withstand abuse, but like
anything mechanical, the moving parts will
eventually wear out and/or need replacing. Proper care and cleaning will lengthen
the life of any drill.

Hand drill

winner:
Its a draw!

edge

Each method has its advantages. For a backcountry route deep in the wildernessand when youre bolting on lead
it's hand drill all the way. For an overhanging limestone cave, break out the power drill. Like anything in climbing, use the
gear that the situation requires. Be mindful of your neighbors and the rules, and respect the climbing area.

County of Inyo

Contact us at Inyo County Health and

Human Services at (760) 873-3305 or
www.inyocounty.us for jobs available in
social work, nursing, mental health and
many other related areas.

the
guide

first ascents

wisdom

To Bolt or Not to Bolt

Knowing when to drill permanent pro is half the battle
By matt segal
SometimeS you Search
for rst ascents, and other
times rst ascents nd
you. In 2011, I traveled to
Liming, China, with the
purpose of establishing new routes on the
amazing sandstone walls
outside the remote Chinese village. (Read about it
at climbing.com/limingchina.) Not knowing what
to expect, I had dreams
of establishing Chinas
hardest traditional climbs.

that it would be possible

to climb the route using
traditional protection. I
spent a few days cleaning
and trying the route. Due
to the soft nature of
sandstone, some holds
and gear placements had
to be cleaned. I scrubbed
the red sandstone and
tick-marked all the crucial
climbing holds and gear
placements.
I was able to nd just
enough gear to protect

and knows the score with

tricky catches. I placed all
the gear effortlessly but
still entered the crux a
little nervous. The climbing is extremely insecure:
pasting your feet on sandy
holds, slapping the slopey
arte with your right hand,
and bearing down on tiny
crimps with the left. I got
halfway through the crux,
which was about six feet
above my nest of two
small cams, when my foot

from the awkward fall

but felt lucky to be alive.
Stanhope was in shock; he
had just recovered from a
terrible climbing accident
where he ripped gear out
of the famous gritstone
route Parthian Shot in
England. He hit the ground
from 60 feet, shattering
his heel, and belaying me
brought back some painful
memories. Completely
freaked out, he said I
should place a bolt, and

these is all my own, and

I dont always feel the
need to equip routes
with the greater community in mind. Some
people might view my
approach as reckless and
feel a route like Air China
should actually have more
than one bolt. I always
try to have a minimalist
approach to establishing
new lines, but others place
a higher importance on
repeatability. To each his

he wouldnt belay me if I
didnt.
Battered, I mulled over
the prospect of tainting
my dream of establishing
a 100-percent gear route
with a bolt. Finally, I realized it wasnt worth risking
a 60-foot ground fall
where the nearest hospital
was who knows how far
away. I later sent the route
with the bolt, calling it Air
China (5.13+ R).
I operate under a
philosophy that routes
dont need to be repeated
safely, so I dont establish
them that way. The joy
in climbing routes like

ownbut its important

to think through your
bolting philosophy as a
rst ascensionist. Have a
reason to placeor not
placeeach bolt.
In the end, is this route
still far from a sport route
despite the bolt? Yes. Did
I enjoy the process of
projecting and eventually sending the route?
Yes. Did I personally nd
the process cheapened
because I added the bolt?
Yes. But some sacrices
need to be made so your
friends dont have to
scoop your brains back
into your head.

On our rst day climbing,

a route caught my eye,
and I knew it was the
one. It was a subtle crack
system that paralleled an
obtuse arte. Establishing
a new route is a creative
process, and I had found
my canvas.
For me, going ground
up is always ideal, but
often times a route needs
pre-inspection. Holds
need to be cleaned, gear
placements found, and
hard sequences solved,
especially if a route may
be dangerous. After
staring up at the line, I
came to the conclusion

32 |

february 2014

the route and make it

possible. Two nests of
microcams would protect
a blank 5.13+ section, but
it might be a little dangerous; the gear was small
but seemed good enough.
In retrospect, the allure
of creating Chinas hardest trad climb may have
clouded my judgment, but
the idea of placing a bolt
never entered my mind.
Eventually I was ready
to pull the toprope, and
with my trusted partner
Will Stanhope belaying, I
went for the lead. Stanhope has belayed me on
numerous sketchy leads

skated off a tiny foothold.

I was airborne and completely out of control. I
felt the rope catch me for
a millisecond, and then I
continued to fall and spin
around the arte where I
eventually ipped upside
down and fell head rst. I
ended up hanging upside
down about eight feet
off the ground. My fall
had yanked the gear so
violently that the rock
exploded. The fall was
around 45 feet, and if I
had fallen from any higher,
I probably would have hit
the ground head rst.
I was pretty whiplashed

John Dickey (4)

Matt Segal taking the terrifying fall from the crux of Air china (5.13+ R), Liming, china.

ISSUE 322

Approach
Shoes
Building a quality
approach shoe is an
artand a science.
Manufacturers take
wildly different materials and delicately press,
weld, glue, or sew them
together into a cohesive
unit that should get
you from your car to
your climb as efciently
as possible. To better
understand each component, weve broken
down the layers and examined how they work.
Plus, we highlighted our
testers top ve picks.

Outsole Lugs, as seen on this shoe, dig into the dirt

for grip on trails. Some approach shoes have a shallow
dot pattern that creates more contact between the
rock and rubber, so they smear better on slabby stone.

Midsole As the middle layer between the

outsole and the footbed, this is the main
shock absorber that decreases impact
on your foot. Two common materials are
polyurethane foam (PU) and ethylene vinyl acetate foam (EVA). PU is dense and
strong, with a longer lifespan than EVA,
but it isnt quite as sof. EVA is lighter
and cushier but less durable.

Drop This refers to the difference in stack

height (the measurement of material between
the bottom of your foot and the ground) at your
heel and forefoot. The smaller the drop, the
more minimalist the shoe, and the more youll
feel the ground beneath your feet, which helps
for approaches that demand precise scrambling
and technical movement. Hiking boots and traditional trail runners have higher stack heights
and drop, which provide more cushioning and
support for heavy loads.

Forefoot Plate This higher-density foam or

plastic piece provides additional support and
protection for the ball of your foot.*

Upper This is the top part of the

shoe that adds support and guards
your foot from outside threats. The
upper can be synthetic, leather,
mesh, or some combination to
offer varying degrees of water
resistance, breathability, and
insulation.

Heel Wedge This midsole component, usually

a sofer foam, absorbs impact during initial heel
strike to provide a more comfortable ride.

GEAR

BEN FULLERTON (3); SHOE COURTESY LA SPORTIVA; MIDSOLE COURTESY FIVE TEN (INSET)

Footbed Also called the insole,

it sits directly beneath your
foot. This foam insert comforts
and supports, molding to your
foots unique shape. If you really
love a shoe, but need more arch
support, for example, try an afermarket insole.

*Midsold is not from the La Sportiva

shoe pictured on this page.

CLIMBING.COM

| 35

Gear

The big review

Get There

Have it all with these 5 approach shoes

By Devon Barrow anD
Julie ellison

Its no easy feat to

build a shoe that
offers support for
long hikes, precision and feel
for technical
scrambling, and
comfort to keep
feet happy. This
year, we thought
outside the box
to see what we
were missing
in the realm of
approach shoes.
What we found
was a host of light
hikers that not
only competed
with our favorite
approach-specic
kicks, but a few
that also offered
more comfort and
climber-friendly
details at a lower
price. After approaching climbs
in Canada, Utah,
Colorado, California, Wyoming,
Kentucky, West
Virginia, and a few
other locales, our
testers were sold
on each models
individual performance. Whatever
your environment,
discipline, or
budget, weve got
a shoe for you.

36 |

February 2014

Approach
Shoe

Performance

Cons

Conclusion

Bottom Line

Salewa Capsico

Patagonia Rover

$110; 11.4 oz.; salewa.com

$125; 8.8 oz.; patagonia.com

None of our testers wanted to like this shoe.

Is this a Croc? one quipped. But after the
rst use, every tester was hooked. You can
tell the product designers are rock climbers
and understand exactly what we need in
an approach shoe for cragging, one tester
said. With sticky rubber, a tread pattern that
gripped trail and rock equally well, and a stable ride, these were excellent for scrambling
up loose gravel and dirt-covered trails to the
Optimator Wall in Indian Creek, Utah. At the
crag, testers ipped the rubber heel band to
the front and folded down the mesh back
to slip them on, giving their feet a break between routes. Its an approach shoe turned
comfy slip-on turned lightweight descent
shoe, said another tester who clipped the
stealthy package to her harness for multipitch routes in Yosemite. Theyre perfect
for cragging, bouldering, and even long
routes. With a wide forefoot, tortured toes
and feet have room to expand and spread
out. A combination mesh and leather upper
proved highly breathable, and a sturdy toe
bumper wrapped up and around the front of
the foot for added protection.

Theyre so light and low-prole that it

seems these shoes couldnt possibly handle
a strenuous approach that gains 1,500 feet
over rock-strewn desert washes and slabs.
But thats where they shined for our Castleton Tower tester on her hike to the base of
Kor-Ingalls (5.9). The climbing-friendly outsole gripped a sandy trail, dirty slabs, loose
ball bearings, and rock edges with aplomb,
and Patagonias proprietary rubber even
clung to wet granite while boulder-hopping
in Guanella Pass, Colorado. Testers lauded
the barely-there feeling from the fourmillimeter drop in the midsole. The thin sole
also boosted condence during technical
scrambling: It felt closer to my rock shoes
in performance than my other approach
shoes, one tester said after the tricky East
Ledges descent from the East Buttress
(5.10b) of El Capitan, Yosemite. A combo
of mesh, synthetic leather, and a beefy toe
rand offers protection and breathability. Tothe-toe lacing allowed testers to cinch the
shoes all the way down for security when
scrambling, and this system made them
perfect for low- to mid-volume feet.

Tightened all the way down, the simple pulland-cinch laces provided a suitable t for
technical scrambling, but narrow feet may
still swim. Some smaller-footed testers felt
unstable on sidehills and the super steeps.

The mostly mesh uppers limit practical use

to summer and shoulder seasons in arid
climates. Long approaches and multi-day
loads may overwhelm the shoes svelte
undercarriage.

Get over the looks, and youll nd a comfortable, versatile, and highly trail-worthy shoe
designed for what every climber needs. Its an
ideal quiver of one for short approaches.

An impressive level of grip, stability, and protection for such a minimalist package. The
supreme breathability and technical-scrambling prowess made this an instant winner.

Testers Favorite

Mighty Light

*All wEIghts ArE for A sInglE mEns sIzE 9 shoE, unlEss othErwIsE notEd.

MAke eM LASt

Delamination, one of the most common durability issues, is the breakdown of the glue between the outsole
and the midsole. most shoe layers are bonded with an adhesive, typically a heat-activated glue held together by strong chemical bonds. The
number-one cause of delam is heat, so dont leave your shoes baking in your car between climbing trips or in direct sunlight. And as tempting as it is,
dont put your feet up right next to the campre or leave your shoes next to it to dry. The same goes for your rock shoes: As soon as you take them off,
put them in the shade or in your pack at the crag. otherwise, the glue can weaken, disgure, and eventually delaminate. However, if you experience a
wagging rubber tongue coming off the toe soon after purchasing or without much wear, it could be due to ineffective contact between the glue and
rubber, which is an error that occurs during manufacturing (usually from not having the two surfaces perfectly clean when gluing). contact the
company directly to get them repaired or replaced.

Ahnu Moraga Mesh

Merrell Proterra Sport Gore-tex

La Sportiva Mix

$120; 15.7 oz. (size 10); ahnu.com

$140; 13.5 oz.; merrell.com

$100; 10.3 oz.; sportiva.com

Dirty secret: Traditional approach shoes with

stickier (read: softer) rubber compounds,
shallow lugs, and thinner, exible midsoles
generally dont make stable, comfortable
trail shoes when youre hiking through
mud or snow or carrying weighty loads.
However, its these conditions where the
Moraga excels. Our testers experienced
instant comfort at rst wear with these light
hiking boots. One tester donned them for
the three-plus-mile hike through a rocky
streambed to a fourth-class scramble to get
to Reese Mountain in Wyoming and immediately touted the plush and cozy feel. Its
like combining a house slipper and a combat
boot, with the weight of a trail runner, he
said. I never worried about the rocks rolling
over my feet on the loose trail. But the
comfy ride isnt limited to hiking. This pair
also stuck to rock just as well as my dedicated approach shoes, one tester said. The
Moraga got the job done on granite slabs at
Reese and sandstone blocks around Moab,
Utah. Plus, deep lugs had traction on varied
terrain, from hard-packed snow to oatmeallike mud and everything in between.

For minimalist-shoe fans who also go offtrail, the Proterra Sport is a perfect t. Our
testers used them as a trail runner and approach shoe, praising the pair in both venues. Our barefoot-runner, hippie tester was
smitten: I had a more natural gait on trails,
he said. Plus, they stuck on my feet like
glue while I was bumbling around the talus
in the West Gully of Mt. Evans. I wouldnt
classify them as purely minimalist due to a
stiff upper and sturdier sole, but they do
outperform their size. The Gore-Tex upper
offers full waterproong, and the burly
bottom is a 10-millimeter PU midsole (more
rigid than other EVA-midsoled minimalists).
These shoes performed especially well
through wet weather. They kept testers
feet dry during a very moist fall and winter
in Colorado, and the M-Select Grip rubber
on the outsole stuck to slimy rock during
some fth-class scrambling around Boulder.
The shoe is designed with pathways of
smaller lugs to funnel the water out from
under the foot. Hint: Get the non-GTX version for a more exible upper and a smaller
price tag ($100).

When a tester chooses a shoe for alpine

bouldering areas in Colorado and loose
climber trails in Indian Creek and Moab, Utah,
we know we have a candidate for a do-it-all
approach shoe. Its great for nearly every
type of climbing I do, whether my objective
is big or small, one tester said. A huge wow
factor for the Mix: Testers found the Frixion
XF rubber was just as sticky as their favorite
rock shoes. After my climb, I took off my
rock shoes and put on my approach kicks.
When I started the slabby descent, I realized
I hadnt sacriced any stickiness, another
tester said. Plus, an area of at (non-lugged)
rubber on the outsole in the toe (front and
outer edge) provided a larger climbing
zone for edging and precision on scrambling
approaches. A low-prole design gave these
shoes a nimble feel when navigating boulderelds and treading lightly up a crumbling
cone of scree toward Washerwoman Tower
in Canyonlands, Utah. The wide forefoot and
narrow heel gave testers feet the comfort
they needed after long days of climbing with
the snug t and security they needed for
tricky descents.

Despite a mesh upper, testers found breathability lacking in conditions that were sunny
and 60F. The slightly clunky feel made
them less than ideal for technical scrambling.

The utility cordstyle laces tend to come

untied easily. A bit pricey for a shoe without
sticky rubber, but you do get Gore-Tex
waterproong.

One plank-footed tester felt pinched on

steep downhill descents. Some testers experienced more pebbles sneaking in the top of
the shoe on scree-covered hikes than with
other shoes in the test.

If you want ultimate stability without the

weight of a full-on, over-the-ankle hiking
boot, these are comfortable while offering
maximum support and protection from rolling rocks and sliding scree.

Great for long days on rough terrain where

you want a nearly ideal combo of comfort,
stability, and agility to navigate tricky scrambles and short climbing sections. Perfect for
damp climates, too.

Sturdy, light, versatile, sticky, and durable:

The Mix is your pick if you want a shoe that
has struck a great balance between being
technical and easy to wear all day.

Comfy Armor

Maximum Minimalist

Sticky Workhorse

climbing.com

| 37

GEAR
Tested

Fourth-Season Essentials
7 products to keep you rock climbing through winter
BY JULIE ELLISON

Socks for climbers

SWIFTWICK ASPIRE
Compression socks for climbing?
Believe it. After shivering for a few
hours on Castleton Tower near
Moab, Utah, one tester decided
to try the Aspires the next day for
Washerwoman Tower, and she was
immediately sold. It added a nice
layer of warmth in a thoughtful
design, she said. No toe seam
to get in the way, a thin prole
to t in the shoes, and wicking
properties to keep my feet dry.
Plus, she reported less fatigue
during the six-hour effort thanks
to increased blood ow from the
compression of the foot that the
Aspire provides. These socks were
also ideal for wearing with light
approach shoes that act more like
rock shoes. $13 to $36, depending
on height; swiftwick.com

Take the edge off

AVEX HIGHLAND AUTOSEAL
STAINLESS TRAVEL MUG
Climbers are serious about coffee. And this tricked-out travel
mug is a seriously cool addition
to the scene. With a large and
easy-to-push button on the top
side, you can effortlessly press
the button
down. Other
mugs put the
button on the
underside, forcing your thumb
to do all the
work. While we
drank our liquids
too fast to
really test this,
Avex claims this
double-walled,
vacuum-insulated mug can
keep drinks hot

38 |

FEBRUARY 2014

for up to seven hours or cold for

up to 20 hours. One tester lasted
about ve hours in 40F temps in
Yosemite, California, and his 20
ounces of coffee was still hot.
The best part of this mug is that
you can slide the push button
down, essentially locking it, which
prevents the button from being
accidentally pressed (similar to
what can happen to your headlamp) and spilling liquid all over
the gear in your pack. Oh, and did
we mention this thing survived
a 30-foot tumble through talus?
$25; avexsport.com

I could not believe the durability of this piece, said another

impressed tester. Sixty grams of
PrimaLoft One kept testers warm
on overcast and 42F days, but
when the sun nally came out,
the combination of synthetic
insulation and airy face fabrics
meant the whole unit breathed
and testers never overheated.
One drawback: The hand-warmer
pockets were directly under the
harness and thus hard to reach, but
a Napoleon pocket on the chest
held sundries in an accessible spot.
$170; eddiebauer.com

Durable warmth

Pebble wrestlers
best friend

EDDIE BAUER FIRST ASCENT

BACKDRAFT
The chimneys and offwidths of
the Utah desert are some of the
toughest proving grounds for
apparel, and if anything functions
well and emerges unscathed, its a
winner in my book, said one tester after rocking the Backdraft for
several pitches of wide (and wider)
cracks. Stretchy nylon softshell
material on the back withstood
extended scraping and dragging
across calcied sandstone while
the lightweight 20-denier ripstop
nylon in the sleeves was immune
to repeated jamming and abrading.

METOLIUS SESSION PAD

Winter means one thing to some
climbers: prime bouldering season. Whether youre a dedicated
boulderer or a beginner, the
Metolius Session Pad is an ideal
mat to t every dirtbags car,
needs, and budget. With a simple
bi-fold design and an elastic-ap
closure system, the Session is
excellent for newbies, seasoned
vets who want to add an easierto-carry small pad to their collection, and dabblers who dont
want to drop a lot of dough.
It has 12 square feet of landing

space in a surprisingly light ninepound package. I put this on and

immediately forgot I was wearing
itthats how light and slim it is,
one petite tester said. Through
four months of testing, climbers
never bottomed out, even in
the middle, thanks to an angled
hinge, and the pad still looks as
good as new. One great detail
was the small carpet sewn into
the middle of the pad, so you
dont have to carry an extra towel
to wipe your shoes before you
pull on. The elastic-ap closure
system was snug, so you cant
shove a ton of gear in the pad,
but shoes, water, and chalk pot t
just ne. Hint: Close the pad up
rst, and then shove your gear in
it. $149; metoliusclimbing.com

High performance,
high value
SCARPA STIX
Instant-classic alert! Cobbler
genius Heinz Mariacher (the man
behind some of the sports most
notable shoes like La Sportivas
Mythos and Testarossa and the
Scarpa Boostic) has struck gold
again. The Stix packs top-end
performance in a surprisingly
easy-to-wear synthetic-leather
slipper. Testers loved this shoe
for anything and everything
steep: from the short and horizontal Kill By Numbers (V5), Joes
Valley, Utah, to the 80-foot and
varied Colossus (5.10c), City of
Rocks, Idaho. Out of the dozen

ADVERTISEMENT

pairs of performance rock shoes

Ive owned, these have struck the
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tester. Theyre slightly difcult to
pull on, but still easier than most
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on top: high-end performance for
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Fingers of steel

PROGRESSION BOARD
By winters end, the banality of
the climbing gym can produce
plateaus that even Sharma
couldnt break through. Enter the
Progression Board, a hangboard
to be used in conjunction with
a training regimen designed by
climbing coach Eva Lopez. With
a masters degree in sports science, her research has shown that
substantial nger-strength gains
can be made when training below
a maximum effortor, in other
words, rarely training to the point
of failure in any given session.
This sub-maximum training style
also greatly reduces the chance
of injury. Thats right: big gains in
nger strength with a reduced risk
of injury. The Progression Board is
designed for intermediate climbers seeking to move to the next
level (advanced climbers should
check out her Transgression Board)
with eight rungs that vary from 10
millimeters to 24 millimeters. This
allows for ultra-ne-tuning and

constant control of the training

load. A nger-friendly shape
supports comfortable, strengthbuilding hangs on half-crimps, and
an oversized top rung is perfect
for pull-ups. A training outline is
included with each board, and
more info on Lopezs protocol can
be found on her blog: en-evalopez.blogspot.com.es. Says one
tester after a month of training,
I feel more condent on holds I
once thought ungrippable. $330;
holdz-on.com Dave Sheldon

Eternal ame

SOTO WINDMASTER OD-1RX

Integrated cook systems like the
JetBoil or MSR Reactor do a great
job of deecting wind and maintaining quick boil times, but you
cant use multiple pots or frying
pans. Meanwhile, many pocket
stoves suffer in the face of a stiff
breeze. Solution? Sotos ingenious
(and aptly named) heater. A wide,
concave burner head acts as a
windshield and places the ame
closer to the pot. Testers waiting
out rain and 30mph winds in
Colorados Never Summer Wilderness were able make hot drinks
when another stove failed. The
WindMaster (2.6 oz.) comes with
a tiny integrated pot support, just
big enough for a personal cook
pot. For larger groups, get the
5.7-inch-wide 4Flex ($15) support.
$75; sotooutdoors.com

OUT WITH THE OLD.

IN WITH THE NEW.

Restoring Americas
crags one bolt at a time.

In 2003, Climbing with the support of The North Face

and Petzl launched the Anchor Replacement Initiative
(ARI)a movement to replace worn-out xed hardware
at popular crags across the country. Leading into 2011,
we are proud to announce that nearly 500 routes
have received ARI support and more than 1,000 bolts
have been replacedthanks to dedicated climbers
who spend countless hours volunteering their time
replacing hardware.

MEET CLIMBER
BEN BRUESTLE,
ONE OF ARIS MOST
DEDICATED EQUIPPERS
Hometown: Pueblo, CO
Favorite local crag: Tanner Dome
Number of years youve been climbing: 18
Number of routes youve replaced as
part of ARI: 11
Here are a handful: Bam Bam, 5.10a, Wild Side;
Newlin Creek KC, 5.10c, Wild Side; Newlin Creek Tuff
Turf, 5.10d, Titanic, Hardscrabble I Did It My Way, 5.9,
Titanic, Hardscrabble
Learn more about the Anchor Replacement Initiative,
future projects and how to get involved at
climbing.com/community/ari/

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
SUPPORTED BY

semi-Rad

The Relentless Pursuit of 5.Fun

Lets Talk
About Your
Not-Training

Potential
If you look In the masthead of this

magazine on page 6, youll notice that theres a question asked

of all the staf and contributors
each issue, and that those answers are printed next to each
contributors name. One such question e-mailed
to everyone by editor Shannon Davis was, What
climbing training or cross-training tactic has
been most benecial to your climbing, and why?
I thought long and hard about my answer, and nally sent Shannon a response: Training is something I have looked into.

40 |

FebRuaRy 2014

Brendan Leonard

My answer was not one of the ones chosen to be printed in

that issue, sadly. I did read several responses to Shannons question, which included Crosst, Bikram yoga, the campus board,
andmy favorite12-ounce curls. It made me wonder if I
should start doing this training thing that all the kids are apparently doing nowadays.
Technical climbing has been around for a long time, but training for it is a relatively new concept19th century Chamonix
guides werent doing hangboard workouts, were they? But John
Gill, a former gymnast, trained for climbing and put up V9s before they were even called V9s, and John Bachar trained his ass
of in the 1960s and 70s and developed into one of the strongest,
boldest climbers of all time. That was before climbing gyms existed, and long before climbing gyms started ofering classes and
installing specialized training devices.
Not so long ago, bouldering was the only real training for

climbing longer routes, which in essence was training for climbing in the mountains. Now, there are all sorts of ways to train for
bouldering, which is no longer just training for climbing routes,
but a hobby pursued by determined people who become strong
enough to move chest freezers by themselves and open nontwist-of beer bottles with their bare hands. I am not one of those
people. Anything above about V5 is incomprehensible to my
brain, and when I watch someone climb something harder than
that, I dont think, Hey, theyre a climber, just like me. I think,
That person should be in Cirque du Soleil. Which perhaps puts
me more at home with people who climbed recreationally in the
1960s and 70s than contemporary climbers.
Do you train? How serious are you? Do you bust out core
workouts and do hangboard exercises in addition to climbing
several times a week? Do you do cardio to stay lean enough to
send hard routes? Do you ever think about how hard you would
climb if you stopped training?
Ive realized that in my admittedly not-too-lengthy, not-veryserious climbing career, the years Ive climbed hardest are the
years Ive simply climbed the most. (And also during breakups,
but that has little to do with training or not training.) I wondered
this summer, whats the hardest I could climb if all I did was
climbno pull-ups, no hangboards, nothing that isnt climbing.
Actually, nothing that isnt funfun being dened as things I
enjoy: climbing (including indoor climbing), trail running, backpacking, and mountain biking.
If you put up a prole on mountainproject.com, you can type in
how hard you climb on trad and sport routes, bouldering, and ice,
presumably to match you with people looking for climbing partners. Im sure some people inate the grades, and some others
sandbag a little, but most people probably consider their hardest
onsight and enter that in the boxes.
I would love to add a fth category: How hard you can send
without training? Not like, Oh, I havent been doing regular
workouts because Ive been climbing outside so much this summer, but I quit doing workouts and went back to 1950s-style
training, which is not training. But what to call it? Its not quite
the same as of the couch, as they sayyoure still climbing,
not eating Cheetos for months and going climbing only when
a friend needs a partner. Its an all-fun, no-work classication. You are not pushing yourself to do exercises, just pushing
yourself when you climb, indoors and out. I told my friend Dan
about this idea, and he suggested something along the lines of
from nothing. Its kinda catchy if you say it in Latin: ex nihilo.
My current onsight limit, by the newly established ex nihilo
standard, is about 5.9 trad and 5.10a/b sportunless there are
long sections of overhanging terrain, for which I dont have
the forearm strength. Which would be pretty decent for a rock
climber in the pre-training era, right? Granted, I do benet
from sticky rubber and lighter, stronger gear.
Are you like me? Can you count the number of pull-ups youve
done this month on one hand, or none? Are you mystied by
some of the workout equipment in your climbing gym?
Its OK, dude. Were not lazy, just diehard practitioners of a
new discipline of climbing: ex nihilo. Were not unambitious, just
distracted by other things besides training. And we should probably climb together. Thatd be fun.

Brendan Leonard is a contributing editor for Climbing. He lives

in his van and writes at semi-rad.com.

The

Year

In

From the rst 5.14d onsight to

runout 5.13 traditional routes to
a multitude of V-hard bouldering
ashes, Climbing pays tribute to the
most inspirational climbers, ascents,
and routes of 2013 with the 12th
annual Golden Piton Awards.
By Dougald MacDonald

Nico Favresse working The Recovery

Drink in Jossingford, Norway. This 5.14
crack line is the hardest crack I have
ever redpointed, he says. See page 48
for more details.

beRNaRDo gImeNez

ClImbIng

The year in
climBing

01

need for speed

Scott Bennett set two Colorado speed
records: 44 minutes car to car on The naked edge (5.11-) in eldorado Canyon, with
Brad Gobright, and 12 hours, 31 minutes
car to car for a midwinter ascent of the
Diamond on Longs Peak, with Joe Mills.

January

the gift

sending temps!

the new normal

During one week in January, three

of Americas hardest boulder
problems got repeated. Daniel
Woods found a new way to do
Witness the Fitness (V15+?)
with broken holds at both cruxes,
eight years afer Chris Sharma
put it up in Arkansas. Outside Las
Vegas, afer six days of work, Dave
Graham scored the second ascent
of Meadowlark Lemon (V15), put
up by Paul Robinson a year earlier.
And in Boulder Canyon, Colorado,
Jon Cardwell completed the third
send of The Game (V15), rst
climbed by Woods.

A year afer more than 100 bolts

were removed from the Compressor Route on the south side of
Cerro Torre in Patagonia, dozens
of climbers ventured to the wild
west face of the granite spire,
which houses an all-natural
ice line rst climbed in 1974,
called the Ragni Route. Aided by
unusually good weather and a
path forged through the crux rime
ice by repeated ascents, about
140 people repeated the route.
Most impressive ascent: Austrian
Markus Pucher free soloed the
route in 3 hours, 15 minutes.

Alex Honnold teamed up with pal Josh

McCoy to restore and redpoint an old kurt
Smith project in el Potrero Chico, Mexico:
Mi Regalo Favorito. The 19-pitch route
went free at 5.13c/d.

lucky seven
Daniel Woods and Alex Puccio bouldered out fresh wins at ABS nationals in
Colorado Springsan amazing seventh
national championship for each of them.

mega-cold
Brits Leo Houlding, Alastair Lee, Jason Pickles, and Chris
Rabone, along with American Sean Leary, climbed the
northeast ridge of Ulvetanna, a 3,600-foot granite tower
that looks like a ghter jet blasting out of the ice cap in
Antarctica.

Sean Leary jams a cold crack above the ice cap

on Ulvetanna. The ascent was featured in a
prize-winning lm, The Last Great Climb.

The year in
climBing

02
feBruary

44 |

February 2014

ALASTAiR Lee/POSinG PRODUCTiOnS

(LeFT); BeAU kAHLeR

Alex Puccio en route to her seventh

national bouldering championship.

Golden
Piton AwArd

Climb of the Year

Bernardo Gimenez

La Dura
Dura

Thanks to Big Up Productions and the

Reel Rock Tour, La Dura Dura was one
of the worlds most famous sport climbs
long before it was redpointed. The
2012 lm, also called La Dura Dura,
highlighted the friendly competition between Chris Sharma and Adam Ondra
to set a new level of difculty. The two
strongest climbers in the world go head
to head in Catalunya, Spain, vying to
establish the planets rst 5.15c, promised the promo copy.
Never mind that Ondra, the 19-yearold Czech phenom, was already hard
at work on a route that actually
would become the rst 5.15c: Change
in Flatanger, Norway, which Ondra
redpointed in October 2012. By then,
the rivalry had hit more than 400
theaters worldwide, and when Ondra
and Sharma returned to La Dura Dura
in early 2013, their every move lit up
the Internet.
Sharma, 32, had discovered, cleaned,
and bolted the 40-meter line in Oliana,
Spain, years earlier: a deliberate efort
to take the next step in sport climbings
evolution. But Sharma soon came to feel
the climb might be too difcult. When
Ondra showed up in Oliana, Sharma
encouraged him to go for it, and then got
re-inspired to work the climb himself.
Ondra was rst to do La Dura Dura,
sending on February 7 (he had just
turned 20) after ve trips to Oliana
in 18 months. He said it was denitely
harder than Change, but still 9b+.
Would Sharma now lose interest? No
way. As he told Planet Mountain, Id
practically written the route of, and
when [Adam and I] decided to work it
together, he brought it back to life. We
fed of each others motivation. With
Sharmas send on March 23, the climbing world had its Hollywood ending.

although chris sharma found and bolted

the legendary la dura dura route, it was
adam ondra (pictured here) who nabbed
the rst ascent in february 2013.

climbing.com

| 45

golden
PiTon award

zion x 4
Tommy Caldwell and
Alex Honnold linked
four big walls in Zion
National Park in 16
hours. This was just a
warm-up for Honnold,
who three days later
free soloed Moonlight
Buttress, Monkeynger, and Shunes
Buttress in about 12
hours.

Alex Megos reaches high on Retired

Extremely Dangerous (aka The Red
Project), Australias rst 5.14d.

free patagonia!
In the Paine region of
Chile, Belgian climbers
Merlin Didier, Stphane
Hanssens, and Sean
Villanueva ODriscoll
free climbed the El
Capsized east faces
of Cerro Catedral and
Cerro Cota 2000, both
at 5.13a. Hanssens
and Villanueva then
snuck in a new free
route on Cerro Fitz Roy
in Argentina, with only
hours to spare before
heading home.

triumph and
tragedy
A Polish team made
the rst winter ascent
of 8,047-meter Broad
Peak in Pakistan25
years afer one of the
climbers had nearly
succeeded in winter.
Sadly, two of the four
summiters disappeared during the
descent.
The year in
climBing

03
march

The year in
climBing

Breakthrough performance

Alex Megos

Until about 18 months ago, only climbing-news

junkies knew Alex Megos, a 20-year-old from
Erlangen, Germany. Like many superstars, Megos
started young (age 5) and quickly moved through
the competition scene. By 2012, hed redpointed up
to 9a (5.14d) and pulled of a string of impressive
ashes, including Pure Imagination (8c+/5.14c) in
Kentuckys Red River Gorge.
After nishing high school, I could fully focus
on climbing and traveling, Megos says. The result
has been an unprecedented leap in standards. In
March, Megos onsighted Estado Critico in Siurana, Spain, the rst 9a onsight in history. (Adam
Ondra had onsighted two routes graded 9a, but he
downgraded both of them; he then onsighted a 9a
four months after Megos.) The young German said
he never expected an onsight when he started up
the climb. I just told myself I would climb as far
as possible, he says. It was the biggest surprise of
my climbing life.
Other proud achievements include a repeat of
Corona (9a+/5.15a) and the new route Classied
(9a/9a+), both on his home turf in the Frankenjura. In Australia, he established the countrys hardest sport climb (9a), as well as a 5.15a bouldering
link-up in the Hollow Mountain Cave.
Expect more: At the moment, I am a full-time
climber, Megos says. I decided to take another
year of from school, because I am doing quite
well right now, and I want to continue a bit before
starting my studies.

SiMoN CARTER

Of all the places in the wOrld, where

wOuld yOu mOst like tO climB?
For bouldering, Brione, Switzerland. For multipitch climbing, Madagascar. And for sport climbing, Cse, France.
what climBer mOst impresses yOu?
Probably Adam Ondra. Some weeks ago he came
to the Frankenjura, and I gave him beta for a 9a
he wanted to ash. It impressed me how well he
could memorize everything I showed him. During
his attempt, it looked like he was trying it for the
third time. Everything I told him he was able to
put together perfectly. That was the most impressive thing I have seenand really motivating!

04
april

youth brigade
Twelve-year-old Harry
Edwards from Arizona
redpointed Southern
Smoke (5.14c) at the Red
River Gorge in Kentucky.

moose attack

The 10,335-foot Mooses Tooth is one of Alaskas most popular

high peaks, and each year dozens of climbers attempt the classic west ridge or the Ham and Eggs couloir on the south face.
But the 5,000-foot, super-steep east face is rarely climbed. So
it was amazing to see three new routes on the face in a single
week. Climbing with Pete Tapley, Scott Adamson completed a
line he had tried three times, making the rst all-free ascent of
the east face. Afer a brief rest, he joined Chris Wright to complete a second new route on the walls lef side. Meanwhile, the
Swiss-Austrian duo of Dani Arnold (see p. 12 for more on Arnold)
and David Lama blasted up their own new routea direct line in
the center of the east faceduring the pairs rst trip to Alaska.
rusty piton

passages
The great Colorado climber
Layton Kor,
responsible for
a multitude of
classic routes
(moderate and
bold alike!) from
Eldorado Canyon to Yosemite
Valley, died at
age 74 afer a
long illness.

Climbers
Simone Moro,
Ueli Steck,
and Jon Grifth
got embroiled
in a violent
dispute with
Sherpa climbers
at Camp 2 on
Mt. Everest,
following a
confrontation
on the Lhotse
Face. The three
abandoned their
climb and ed
the mountain.

national
champs
Daniel Woods
won SCS Nationals in Boulder, Colorado,
becoming the
rst person to
be U.S. national
champion in
both bouldering and lead
climbing in
the same year.
Frenchwoman
Charlotte
Durif won the
womens competition, which
made runner-up
Delaney Miller
the national
champ.

trad is rad

Keeping the trad ame burning bright in the New River Gorge
of West Virginia, Matt Wilder climbed a 5.13d line, Eye of the
Beholder, at Beauty Mountain. He managed this between burns
on the still-unclimbed Rapunzel project: a traditional 5.14.

climbing.com

| 47

The year in
climBing

rusty piton

05
may

full recovery
Afer ve weeks of effort
over two visits to Norway,
Belgian Nico Favresse freed
The Recovery Drink, a 115foot overhanging crack that
the 5.14+ climber called his
hardest trad route ever.

Afer a sustained effort by the International Sport Climbing

Federation to win a berth in the Olympics, the IOC announced
that climbing would not be part of the 2020 Olympic Games.

worlds highest birthday

May marked the 60th anniversary of Mt. Everests rst ascent
and the 50th anniversary of the West Ridge climb by Americans
Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld.

golden
PiTon award

bouldering

Jimmy
Webb

48 |

February 2014

Jimmy Webb gets the rst ascent of Future

Trippin (V13), leavenworth, Washington, on a trip
where he ashed 10 problems V11 or harder.

And the overall experience is so good

for my climbing that it makes me
stronger mentally.
Working part-time as a route-setter at
the ABC Kids Climbing Gym in Boulder,
Webb says he likes repeating hard boulders and putting up new problems just
as much. I usually like to go to an area,
spend some days paying respect to the
classics, and then branch out and try to
discover something new, he says. With a
full year of travel coming up, he should
have plenty of opportunities.

Of all the places in the

wOrld, where wOuld yOu
mOst like tO climb?
There are so many places I havent
been. Australia would be rad.
what climber are yOu mOst
impressed by?
The beauty of climbing is that everyone is diferent. Right now I really like
climbing with Dave Graham, because
hes so technically sound. He really
knows how to move on the rock.

AARON MATHESON; pAUl BRIDE (RIGHT)

From the Deep South last winter to

Europe in the spring, and then on
to South Africa in the summer and
Colorado in the fall, Jimmy Webb
seemed to be everywhere and climbing everything, usually in blazing
speed. Webb ashed at least half a
dozen V13 problemswe say at
least because he downgraded problems that felt easier for him, including Sky, often called V14, which he
ashed in Rocklands, South Africa.
In Rocky Mountain National Park,
Webb did the third ascent of Dave
Grahams Bridge of Ashes (V15)
in just 30 minutes. He also put up
two new V15 problems at Lincoln
Lake in Colorado. Oh, and he bested
a stacked eld at last summers
Psicobloc deep water soloing comp
in Utah, leaving viewers wondering,
Whos that dude with the beard?!
Webb, 26, hails from Tennessee and has been bouldering hard
for more than half a decade. (He
did his rst V14, Jade in Rocky
Mountain National Park, in 2010.)
But 2013 was extraordinary by
anyones standards. I honestly
dont know if Ive gotten stronger, or
if Ive just had more opportunity,
Webb says. Ive been fortunate to
travel a lot, so its only natural that
Im able to complete more boulders.

THE YEAR IN
CLIMBING

Hazel Findlay stretches for the next hold

on Adder Crack, her 5.13c R rst ascent
in Squamish, British Columbia.

06

GOLDEN
PITON AWARD

JUNE

Traditional

HAZEL FINDLAY

give me liberty!
Lucho Rivera and Cedar Wright completed the
rst all-free ascent of a major Yosemite Valley
wall: the southwest face of Liberty Cap.

rusty piton
Pakistani terrorists murdered 10 foreign
climbers and one local staffer at Nanga
Parbat base camp.

bouldering gold
Austrian Anna Sthr won the boulder World
Cups in Toronto, Canada, and Vail, Colorado,
and claimed her fourth season title.

It was one hell of a year for Brit Hazel Findlay. The petite 24-year-olds climbs
included the second ascent of Chicama, a bold 5.13 in North Wales; Freerider (5.13a,
35 pitches) on El Capitan in just three days; and a 5.13 R trad route in South
Africa. Findlays near-one-day ascent of Babel, a runout 20-pitch 5.13 in Morocco,
was featured in the Reel Rock lm Spice Girl. She also did her rst 5.14a sport route.
Findlay started climbing at 7 and was a multi-time British youth champion. In
2011, she became the rst woman to redpoint E9 (runout hard 5.13 by American
standards). She also freed her rst El Cap route, Golden Gate (5.13a), and in 2012
made the rst female free ascent of PreMuir (5.13c/d, 33 pitches), El Cap.
WHAT CLIMBER ARE YOU MOST IMPRESSED BY?
For all-out natural talent and strength, my friend Neil Dyer, who has too much
of both. For hard work, tenacity, and talent, Tommy Caldwell, who is ready to
try hard at all aspects of climbing, whether its ferrying loads to the top of El Cap
or holding on to a razor-sharp granite crystal until his ngers bleed. As for who
Im most inspired by, Id have to say the Belgian boys, Sean Villanueva and Nico
Favresse, who are the best because theyre the climbers having the most fun.

The year in
climbing

golden
PiTon award

07

Kilian Jornet slides down a

xed rope during his run up and
down the Matterhorn.

july

speed

Kilian
Jornet

50 |

February 2014

horn picture in my bedroom when I

was a child, and Brunos record was
the most expressive of the sportthe
ultimate thing to motivate me to do
skyrunning, Jornet says.
Late in the summer, Jornet and
mountain runner Emelie Forsberg
were widely criticized for seeking a
rescue when their ultralight ascent
above Chamonix had to be aborted.
But Jornet shrugged of the ak as
the price of being known. He adds,
We go every day [in the] mountains, so it is logical to have good
days and bad days.
Whether Jornet is dangerously
pushing the limits of light and fast
or not will likely become clearer as
he ventures onto higher peaks in
his multi-year Summits of My Life
campaign. On tap for 2014: Denali
and Aconcagua.
Do you also climb for
pleasure, other than speeD
recorDs or training?
I always run and climb for pleasure. Records are just the excuse to
go to the mountains, to spend time
with friends there.

rusty piton
Tito Traversa, a 12-year-old 5.14 climber from
Italy who seemed destined to become one of the
sports greats, died following a tragic accident
in which some quickdraws he borrowed had
been assembled incorrectly and failed when he
weighted them.

saddle sores
Alex Honnold and Cedar Wright enchained all of
Californias 14ers in a three-week, human-powered
adventure by bike, foot, and free soloing. See p. 58
for the full story.

karakoram rsts

Two much-coveted peaks in Pakistan got their

rst ascents: 23,294-foot K6 West, by the Canadian duo Raphael Slawinski and Ian Welsted,
and 24,278-foot Khunyang Chhish East, by the
Swiss-Austrian trio of Simon Anthamatten and
Hansjrg and Matthias Auer.
taking the lead
Paraplegic climber Sean ONeill pioneered a system
to lead crack climbs in Yosemite without the use of
his legs.

SbASTIEN MONTAz-ROSSET

Climbers have long wondered

what might happen if Olympiccaliber athletes from other sports
brought their strength and
stamina to the vertical world.
Now, we have a pretty good idea:
Catalan runner Kilian Jornet
Burgada is systematically blowing away speed records on the
worlds most famous peaks.
Jornet, 26, is a three-time winner of the Skyrunner mountainrunning series, and in 2011 he
won the 100-mile Western States
Endurance Run in California.
Hes also a world champion ski
mountaineer. Jornet has been
climbing since he was a child,
and in the past two years, he has
focused his near-superhuman
aerobic ability on more technical
challenges.
Last summer, Jornet smashed
the record for climbing and
descending Mont Blanc, from
downtown Chamonix to the
15,781-foot summit and back,
and then did the same on the
Matterhorn, making the round
trip on the Italian side in 2
hours, 52 minutesmore than
20 minutes faster than an
18-year-old record set by Italian
Bruno Brunod. I had a Matter-

hyperlight.
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Competition

PsicoBLoc MAsTERs

Competition climbing in the U.S. survives mostly on a

thriving youth circuit and a few national and international events that draw decent crowdsfor bouldering,
that is, but not for lead climbing. Many of Americas
strongest men rarely ever compete, even on U.S. soil,
and with climbing out of the running for the Olympics,
that scenario seemed likely to continue.
In this dim light, the Psicobloc competition in Park
City, Utah, was like a life-giving blast of sunshine.
Modeled after an event in Bilbao, Spain, that Chris
Sharma won in 2011, Psicobloc ofered a head-tohead, deep water soloing format that promised
big thrills for climbers and spectators alike. The
event team, led by Sharma, Mike Beck, and Kevin
Bradburn, erected a temporary wall that loomed 55
feet above a 10-foot-deep practice pool at the Utah

golden
PiTon award

Olympic Park. (Competitors had to risk the nearly

ve-story plunge over and over if they made it high in
the standings.) The comp was timed to coincide with
Outdoor Retailer, a semiannual gathering of the tribe
in nearby Salt Lake City, and the sheer novelty of the
thingplus a $20,000 prize purselured a whos
who of top talent that doesnt usually compete these
days, from Sharma to Dave Graham and Lynn Hill
to Tommy Caldwell.
More than 2,500 spectators ocked to the nals
in Park City to see 5.14 ashes and painful-looking
splashes, and nearly 20,000 people from more than
100 countries tuned in for the live stream. Sasha
DiGiulian and Jimmy Webb won the comp, but the
real winner was competition climbing itself. Look for
a repeat performance in Park City this summer.

The year in
climbing

08
augusT

Utah local Jacinda hunter

takes a big fall during the
womens competition.

52 |

February 2014

is 5.15 still hard?

Adam Ondra spent a few weeks in Norway and came

away with two new 5.15b routes, Move and Iron Curtain,
in the giant granite cave outside Flatanger. During
the full year, Ondra established seven 5.15 routes and
repeated a couple of others, begging the question: Is
5.15 even newsworthy anymore? Well, consider this:
There are still only three consensus 5.15a routes in
North America: Jumbo Love in California, Flex Luthor in
Colorado, and Jaws II in New Hampshire. Only the last
has been repeated, including two ascents this past fall,
by Andrew Palmer and Paul Robinson. So, yeah, 5.15 is
still hard. Adam Ondra is just at a whole new level.

bella!
Sasha DiGiulian, best known for her cragging and competition prowess, did the rst female ascent of Bellavista
(5.14b), a sporty big wall free climb on the north face of
Cima Grande in the Italian Dolomites, complete with an
unplanned bivouac on the summit.

The year in
climbing

09
sepTember

lead now

A year-long, round-the-world climbing trip? Yes, please! But

Paige Claassen and lmmaker Jon Glassberg have lofier goals
than simply sending and sightseeing. Claassens Lead Now tour
aims to raise awarenessand cashfor issues facing women
and children worldwide, all while attempting to raise the bar
for womens climbing. As of December, the two had visited ve
countries, raised more than $10,000, and Claassen had climbed
big: a new 5.14a and the rst female ascent of another 5.14a in
South Africa; the second ascent of a 5.14b slab in Italy; and a
5.14b rst female ascent in China, among others. Up next: India,
Turkey, and Ecuador. See p. 10 for more info.
rusty piton

european vacation

Jose Luis Mosquera, 33, a climber from

Ecuador, was shot outside his tent in
Ten Sleep, Wyoming, shocking climbers
worldwide. Mosquera recovered, but no
perpetrator or motive has been found.

During a school holiday in Europe, 12-year-old Mirko

Caballero from California climbed his rst 5.14b and his
rst V13, both in Switzerland.

wild 5.14
David Allfrey, Nik Berry, and Mason Earle added a 5.14a
free route to the 1,800-foot north face of Mt. Hooker,
deep in Wyomings Wind River Range. Bonus: Theyre
headed back next summer to straighten out the line and
add more hard pitches.

5.14 on the diamond

Twelve years afer he did the rst 5.13 on the Diamond,

a 900-foot wall in Colorado topping out at over 14,000
feet, Tommy Caldwell led the rst free ascent of the
full Dunn-Westbay Route, including an 80-meter crux
5.14a pitch. Joe Mills followed the whole route free.

ALTON RICHARDSON

ashima!
Twelve-year-old Ashima Shiraishi traveled to Europe
during her school vacation and climbed two 5.14b routes
at Cse, France, including a second-try send. Switching
gears, she then headed to Switzerland to go bouldering
and soon sent her second V13, One Summer in Paradise,
at Magic Wood. Back home in the States, she squeezed in
trips to Rocky Mountain National Park (Automator, V13)
and the Red River Gorge (24 Karats and 50 Words For
Pump, both 5.14c).

canadian
speed

alpine
trilogy

Young Squamish climber

Marc-Andre
Leclerc raced
up his home
cragthe
Chiefin record
time, and also
soloed two huge
routes on the
north face of
remote Slesse
Mountain in a
single day.

Barbara Zangerl
of Austria was
the rst woman
to complete the
so-called Alpine
Trilogy, three
long 5.14 routes
in the Alps,
each put up in
1994. Zangerl
did the rst
female ascents
of two of these
climbs.

nose blitz
Libby Sauter
and Mayan
Smith-Gobat
shattered the
female speed
record for the
Nose of El
Capitan. The
two climbed the
route in 5 hours,
39 minutes,
more than 1.5
hours faster
than the old
mark.

rockies legend

Twenty-eight years afer it was rst climbed, the legendary

Blanchard-Cheesmond Route on the north pillar of Twins Tower
in the Canadian Rockies was repeated by Jon Walsh and Josh
Wharton. Says Wharton: I have done lots of routes that have a
bigger bark than bite, but this route lived up to its reputation.
climbing.com

| 53

THE YEAR IN
CLIMBING

10
OCTOBER

Alpine

UELI STECK

After the ugly confrontation at Camp 2 on Mt. Everest last spring and the media onslaught that followed,
Ueli Steck thought he might never go back to Nepal
to climb. But the Swiss alpinist and speed soloist had
already attempted Annapurnas 8,000-foot south
face twice before, and had nearly died on it in 2007.
He had unnished business.
Steck returned to Annapurna in the fall with Canadian Don Bowie. Their goal was to complete the line
attempted by Pierre Bghin and Jean-Christophe
Lafaille in 1992. Steck hadnt planned to climb alone,
but on October 8, as they launched up the wall, Bowie
told his partner he didnt have it in him to solo as
much of the route as would be required. It was a
difcult moment for me, Steck says. I knew at that
moment I just needed to leave, without too much talking and thinking.
Steck thought hed just probe farther up the wall for a
couple of days, but he soon realized the face was in the
condition of the century. The crux rock band above

GOLDEN
PITON AWARD

23,000 feet was laced with runnels of perfect ice. Steck

knew it was now or never.
What followed was one of the greatest climbs in Himalayan history. Alone, with the bare minimum of gear
(see p. 75), and climbing mostly at night, Steck soloed
to the top of the wall and on to Annapurnas 26,545foot summit. With only a single rope and a handful of
pitons and ice screws, he could not rappel the enormous
faceinstead he had to exercise his seemingly supernatural skill and self-control to downclimb nearly the
entire way. Twenty-eight hours after starting, he was
back down safely.
As if to underscore what Steck had accomplished,
two of Frances best alpinists started up essentially
the same route on Annapurna a little more than a
week later, and they took 10 days to complete the second ascent, narrowly escaping with their livesone
of them sufered severe frostbite. One later said the
headwall Steck soloed had pitches as hard as M6. The
ascent, he said, was revolutionary.

himalayan
giant

Four French climbers completed the

much-eyed south
face of 23,406foot Gaurishankar
in Nepal, but
without reaching
the summit.

rusty piton
For 16 days in
early October,
a partial government shutdown
locked climbers
out of national
parks and other
federal lands.
Americans and
visiting climbers
alike wondered,
WTF?

PATiTuCCiPhOTO (2)

lemons to
lemonade

The massive 8,000-foot south

face of Annapurna. The blue circle
pinpoints the hard-charging Steck.

Massive ooding in Colorado

in mid-September killed eight
people and
uprooted thousands. With
many crags
closed, a few
Boulder climbers launched
a community-based
relief effort that
earned national
attention. As
the roads and
trails reopened,
climbers
discovered the
high water had
lef a bonanza
of early-season
ice in the nearby
mountains.

climbing.com

| 55

The year in
climbing

golden
PiTon award

11
november

the sharpest knife

Afer 13 days of work, Daniel
Woods climbed a sit start to
the two-year-old Dave Graham
problem called The Ice Knife in
Colorado, adding four moves of V12
to the V14/15 problem. A possible
V16? Woods wouldnt say so, but
he did say this was harder than any
of the nearly 20 V15s hes done.

Community

a very full day

Adam Ondra completed the
only three 9a (5.14d) routes in
Germanys Frankenjura that he
hadnt already climbedand he
did them in a single day.

m-trad
Ryan Vachon dry-tooled Red
Beard, an M12 route at Vail,
Colorado, on removable trad gear,
skipping the climbs usual bolt
protection.

56 |

February 2014

You cant do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about
its width and depth.
John Ellison, founder of Climbers Against Cancer (pictured above and center)
Englishman John Ellison was diagnosed with cancer in late 2011 and given only a few
years to live. Ellison had been judging climbing comps for about a decade, and at the
world championships in Paris, nearly a year after his diagnosis, he had an epiphany:
The climbing community was like a vast and yet very close family. He saw climbers
and coaches from all over the world loudly cheering each other on. Surely, he thought,
there must be a way to harness all that positive energy for a greater good.
Ellison, a gregarious, 50-year-old father of one, had already raised a bit of money
for cancer research at climbing events, and now he broached a much bigger idea with
friends Graeme Alderson, the longtime British coach and competition ofcial, and
Shauna Coxsey, a leading British boulderer. Their enthusiasm spurred Ellison on. He
and another friend designed the distinctive Climbers Against Cancer logos and colorful T-shirts, and they launched the CAC fund-raising website in January 2013.
Almost overnight, those CAC shirts seemed to be everywhere, from the crags of Catalunya to the competition walls of Slovenia. The shirt sales (15 each, or about $24)
and other donations brought in more than $240,000 in just 10 months. In November,
CAC (climbersagainstcancer.org) began selling a 2014 wall calendar featuring Alex
Puccio, Anna Sthr, Alex Johnson, and other top female climbers in 1950s-style pinup poses. In keeping with CACs international focus, the money is being doled out to
cancer-research organizations worldwideAustralia, France, and Canada so far.
Ellison doesnt know how much time he has left. But he has vowed to continue CACs
mission of raising money and demystifying cancer as long as he canand to foster a
powerful international movement that will long outlive him.

BeAu KAhleR (leFT); ChRISTIAN STeWART

Climbers against CanCer

Lifetime Achievement

NathaN Smith (iNSet); mike lowe/jeff lowe collectioN

Jeff Lowe

golden
PiTon award

If any American climber can be called a visionary,

it is Jef Lowe. A Utah native who lived in Colorado
for much of his climbing career, Lowe envisioned
countless new routes in the Rocky Mountains, Zion
National Park, the Canadian Rockies, and the
Greater Ranges. He invented or co-invented many
types of gear and clothing, and his 1979 book, The Ice
Experience, and later books, articles, and videos gave
ice climbers whole new ways to think about the sport.
Lowe did the rst ascent of Colorados Bridal Veil
Falls (WI5+), with Mike Weiss, back in 1974in the
infancy of vertical water-ice climbingand then soloed
the 375-foot route just a few years later. His new routes
in Nepal and Peru helped bring modern ice techniques
to the highest mountains. When new equipment
began to make pure ice seem routine, Lowe combined
traditional mixed-climbing techniques with pre-placed
protection to open radical terrain for winter climbers.
His rst ascent of Octopussy (WI6 M7 R, 1994) in Vail,
Colorado, opened eyes throughout the world.
Though he often climbed alone, Lowe was also a
keen and imaginative promoter of big eventshe
brought the rst World Cup competitions to the
U.S. and created the hugely popular Ouray Ice Festival. Ice climbing is just one small part of Jef s
contribution to how we look at climbing today, says
Will Gadd. I dont think theres another climber to
ever play so many diferent games at such a high
level. Hes a climbing generalist who managed to
redene climbing.
Since 2000, Lowe, 63, has been sufering from a
degenerative neurological condition with similarities to multiple sclerosis or ALS. The disease has
conned him to a wheelchair and limited his ability
to speak. As Lowes condition deteriorates, friends
and family are working to complete a lm about his
life, Metanoia, centered on his unrepeated solo route
on the north face of the Eigera lasting tribute to an
extraordinary climber.

The year in
climbing

12
december

jeff lowe leads the rst

ascent of Stewart falls
(wi5) in utahs wasatch
mountains in 1976.

climbing.com

| 57

t
gh
r

ri
o

n
n

ol

And

ce
d

By A
le
x

e
h

rfest
e
f
f
su
tw

ow
or
ld
su -cl
re as
ly
s
no cli
th m
in b
g

s. g...
e
n
k
bi wro
n o
O
. ld g
s
er ou
c

in

s
i
d

Alex Honnold
Typical.
Forget the
physical
challenge. Alexs biggest
concern every day was
how hard it
was to pack!
Maybe he
could have
helped with
the pannier
selection if
he werent
so busy scoping skyscrapers for an
epic stunt.
-CW

He was only
two pitches
up, and someone else found
his thumb in
the talus. But
still tough as
nails! True
story. -AH

60 |

february 2014

Cedar Wright

Ive got gobies on my butt cheeks. And every time I push the pedals on my bike
(aka slow-moving torture device), it feels like someone is pounding me in the
kneecap with a hammer. When I stand up to relieve the screaming ass pain, my
body catches the 30 mph headwind like a sail. Im actually moving backward on
my bike. I blame Alex Honnold.
Not for the last time on this hellish trip, I questioned
Cedars decision-making. Hed arranged all the cycling
gear while I was overseaseverything from the bikes to
the spandex. He ordered the cheapest (and I think probably the tiniest) panniers he could nd on the Internet.
As we folded, crushed, and cajoled our pared-down belongings into these two miniscule saddlebags, I realized
that minimalism would be key. But maybe this wouldnt
be that big of a problem if we thought of it as alpine-style
bike touring. Fast and light? Light is right? Lets make
Mark Twight proud. But then after we got moving, we
realized it was a true struggle to pack enough food and
water for long days on the road, even with the zippers
straining to near failure. I sure wouldnt argue with the
ability to pack more comfortably.
When we came up with the idea of climbing all 15 of
Californias 14,000-foot peaks using only bikes for
transport, we cavalierly declared it would be pretty
mellow. I decided Id make a short lm about the trip
and began jokingly referring to our proposed mission as the Suferfest. We gured a leisurely bike ride
through Californias premier mountain range with
light loads to solo moderate classics on iconic 14,000foot peaks would be a fun change of pace. It turns out
the joke was on us, and the name was quite prescient,
perhaps even modest. But at least Honnold was there
to remind me how bad I sucked.
Honnold ts into a unique place in my life. I consider him a good friend, but sometimes I just want
to strangle the guy. Hes a bro, an inspiration, and a
climbing hero. At times I nd him socially inept, and
at other times he seems wise beyond his years and can
cut straight to the heart of a matter. Hes a motivating
factor in my life, but sometimes he makes me feel like
I should just give up. Dude, I dont know what your
problem is, Honnold once said to me after I whipped
of a crack climbing project in Indian Creek for the
umpteenth time. I wanted to punch the condescending look of bewilderment of his face. He was kind of
joking, but there was an element of sincere wonder at
how I could ail so much.
Ive known Honnold since before he became arguably the most famous rock climber in the United
States, if not the whole damn world, and I can say
that the fame really hasnt changed him much. Hes
still the genuinely nice but sometimes brutally honest dude I met in El Cap Meadow 10 years ago, a guy
I will always be psyched to share an adventure with.
We decided to start our Suferfest at Mt. Shasta,

which stands alone, 600 miles away from the rest of

the 14,000-foot peaks in California that are clustered
in or near the Sierra Nevada. We were driven up by a
70-year-old guy that Honnold called Old Man John.
John was tough as nails; apparently he once ripped his
thumb of halfway up El Cap, but then found it at the
base and had it sewn back on. From Shasta, we would
not set foot in a car until we had nished on Langley,
the southernmost of the 15 14ers. How audacious our
plan was revealed itself more and more with every
passing mile.
Our bike tour began at Mt. Shasta, in northern California. The hike and descent were straightforward
enough, a little cold and windy, but otherwise uneventful. By mid-afternoon we were back in the trailhead
parking lot, trying to gure out how to pack our bikes
again for the upcoming few weeks of adventure. Piles of
random camping and hiking gear were strewn around
our friends truck, our bikes in the middle. Seriously,
how could so much stuf possibly t onto two bicycles?
At the summit of Shasta, we were sufering from
nausea and headaches, and greeted by hurricaneforce winds and sub-freezing temperaturesnot the
all the technical climbing was easy to
moderate, so the guys trained on doorways to keep their ngers strong.

Unfair. I only
fell a couple
more times
than you.
Snow is quite
slippery. -AH

samuel crossley (2)

Not the usual junk show: cams, ropes,

and climbing shoes are replaced with
bikes, spare tires, and spandex.

fun-in-the-sun summertime romp we had hoped for.

This is probably the worst of it, I thought to myself.
One quality that has allowed me to pull of some pretty cool climbs and adventures is my ability to grossly
underestimate the difculty of a challenge, and then
my stubbornness to forge on regardless.
On the descent from Shasta, I realized that while
Honnold may be a master of rock, he is not a master of
snow. In fact, he might be the worlds worst glissader.
To my amusement, I watched this super-athlete-worldfamous-rock-god fall repeatedly on his ass in the snow
like a great big gumby. It was nice to know that he was
less than awesome at something.
Now we had more than 600 miles from Shasta to
the Sierra Nevada and the rest of Californias 14ers.
PSSSSSSSSSTTT. This was what would become the
familiar sound of my bike tire going at. I would go
to unclip my pedals, but they wouldnt come out and I
would crater into the dirt. By day three, my quads felt
like balloons full of lactic acid and misery.
But still I constantly had to wait for Honnold to catch
up, so I had a lot of time to think as I dodged big rigs
on the freeway. Mostly I wondered what we were
thinking. Honnold said it felt like someone is stabbing him in the kneecap over and over again; my knee
pain was more of a dull, throbbing ache. We both
were having trouble sitting on our bikes. But at least
we were traveling super light.
Unfortunately, that meant we had no cooking gear
and subsisted on gas station and diner food. One day
I strapped a large pizza to my bike rack. We hit the
wall that evening; with no good camping spot in site,
we dragged our bikes of the freeway a couple hundred feet and bivied in a cow pasture. Before bed, I
shoveled cold pizza into my dry, chapped mouth and
passed out with a cow pie for a pillow.
In the morning, I woke up to second-degree burns

on the tops of my legs. We had two more days to get to

the Sierra, but I was thinking about giving up. This just
wasnt fun. Why hadnt I trained harder on a bike? Would
these quarter-size sores on each of my butt cheeks ever
heal? Why had I told so many people about our plans?
We were trapped in an honest-to-God Suferfest.
Its always been a pet peeve of mine to try to stuf a
sleeping bag into too small a stuf sack. Each morning
we would play that struggle out on a grander scale, rst
trying to get the sleeping bag and pad put away, nestling them just right into our bags, and then slipping
our shoes, jackets, climbing shoes, and other random
items into the remaining cracks like puzzle pieces. Any
remaining space was for Clif Bars and trinkets, like the
solar panels for our phones. Which brings me to how
we navigated on this godforsaken trip.
We plotted our whole bike tour by smartphone, and
because service is limited in the mountains, it meant
we were often somewhat lost. Neither of us had done
a ton of planning beforehand; we are both naturally
more inclined to just go for it and have an adventure.
That meant that we rarely had a rm grasp of where
we were going exactly. Even when we were on the right
road or trail, there was often a fair amount of secondguessing, since we were never quite sure. For the most
part, quite fortuitously, our easygoing strategy worked
out. The glaring exception, however, was our climb of
Middle Palisade.
We had climbed the normal Palisade Traverse the
day before just to add some classic rock climbing,
starting with Temple Crag, traversing the ridge across
Mt. Gayley over to the Swiss Arte on Mt. Sill, and then
nally tiptoeing the ridge all the way to Thunderbolt
Peak. It was a big day in the mountains, and we didnt
get to our sleeping bags at the trailhead until around
midnight. Waking up at 6 the next morning to hike a

Ha! In reality, I arrived

in towns at
least an hour
before Cedar
every day,
mostly because
my butt hurt
so badly that
I raced to
get off the
seat as soon
as possible.
-AH

Stop it. -AH

Trying to eat
vegetarian
on this trip
basically meant
that I had a
veggie scramble
every morning
and a veggie
burger every
night. The
food scene
was super
grim. -AH

While Alex
was never
really sure
where we
were going
either, he was
usually 100
percent sure
that I was
wrong. -CW

climbing.com

| 61

The rare day

I felt stronger than Alex.
On the hike
back down
from the
summit, Alex
said, I hope
our bikes
got stolen
so that we
can just end
this stupid
trip. I had
to give him a
this-will-all-beworth-it-ifwe-can-finish
pep talk. -CW

62 |

february 2014

Honnold stands atop the 14,025-foot mt. tyndall,

which is about six miles northeast of mt. Whitney.

diferent drainage up to Middle Palisade felt daunting.

We were joined for the Middle Palisade excursion by
our friend Sean Leary, whod climbed the traverse 15
years ago. But he has a notoriously poor memory, and
Cedar and I had never been up the diferent drainage
that leads to Middle. Solution? The cute little graphic
map at the trailhead, which didnt show detail but at
least gave us a sense of which direction to go once the
trail ran out at the highest alpine lake. Right?
Once we were past that nal tiny blue lake and of the
ofcial trail, we just followed cairns and a faint climbers
trail up the face of the most prominent-looking mountain. The route description didnt quite match up with
what we were climbing, but on easy alpine terrain its
often easy to get of route, so we didnt really stress it.
What we did stress was nally topping out and realizing
that the summit of the next mountain along the ridge
was actually a hair higher than us. The summit register
conrmed our worst fears: Wed climbed Norman Clyde
Peak by accident. What wed hoped would be a pretty
mellow day was about to get a lot more involved.
The traverse to Middle was decomposing choss.
The several hundred yards of technical traversing
took us more time than the entire ascent of Norman
Clyde, because soloing loose 5.9 in your approach
shoes is a fairly serious afair.
It took hours of weaving around gendarmes and
down-climbing towers of choss before making the
summit of Middle. The standard route up Middle
what wed hoped to ascendturned out to be a delightful third-class descent, and the glissade down the
glacier was a fast and pleasant way to lose elevation.
We were back at the trailhead by late afternoon, exhausted, but just in time to avoid the thunderstorms,
which seemed to build most afternoons. Our day on

Middle sort of summed up our whole trip: not as easy

as wed hoped, but at least we managed.
After our epic double mission, with the of-route
catastrophe in the Palisades where Honnold and
Leary led us to the completely wrong summit, we were
left with no choice but to take our rst rest day in over
a week. The Palisades had beaten us to a pulp. It was
sinking in that each mission was an epic achievement
in and of itself and, that enchaining them would most
likely end in permanent damage to our bodies. Each
day involved around 6,000 feet of elevation gain on
a bike to the trailhead, and then an epic ankle- and
knee-grinding hike, followed by a dicey free solo of a
technical route.
It really is amazing what your body can take once
you set your mind to do something. Despite waking
every morning with legs so sore I could hardly get
up, a week went by in a blur, and we were eight peaks
down. We survived day by day.
The weather forecast for the east side of the Sierra
was for inferno-like high temperatures of about 110F
indenitely. While wed roughed it in the dirt thus far,
I wasnt about to try to have a rest day in this kind of
heat. That would just add insult to injury. From here
on out we stayed in hotel rooms, unless we were up
on the mountain, and tried to do as much low-elevation biking as we possibly could in the cool of night.
Hotels and motels are amazing yet depressing places,
where we would partially recover for our next round
of abuse.
The ride down was less heinous, because dropping
10,000 feet on a bicycle is pretty fun no matter how tired
you feel. Though doing 40 mph into a 108F headwind

Alex Honnold

Cedar Wright

samuel crossley; Jeremy collins (opposite)

This was
actually the
most soulcrushing day
for me. It
was pretty
funny to have
Sean say, I
told you we
were going
the wrong
way, at
the summit
of Norman
Clydewhen
he obviously
had said no
such thing
and then to
hear Alex
blame us for
not having a
map, when he
had said to
me, How bad
can it be? We
just hike up
the drainage
and climb the
biggest-looking
peak. I wanted to just
push those
guys off the
summit for a
second. -CW

Terrain
of Pain
The where and what
behind the Sufferfest
Agony: by the numbers

Amount of Chamois Buttr or

Bag Balm packed

Number of butt gobies

(team total)

Pay-Per-View hotel movies

watched

15

Fourteeners summited

20

Cheeseburgers consumed
(Cedar only)

30

Lowest temperature
(summit of Mt. Shasta)

58

Fastest speed (mph), reached

on downhill from Palisades

100+

Total miles hiked

105

Longest single day in the

saddle in miles

108

Highest temperature

750+

Total miles biked

100,000+

Total vertical feet climbed

Honnolds sister stasia joined them near the

end to summit mt. Whitney and mt. langley,
which gave the pair a huge and much-needed morale boost to nish the trip strong.

as we dropped into the Owens Valley felt like sitting

under a bathroom hand dryer. Just another normal
day in the mountains.
After White Mountain, our hotel beds felt like heavenly
clouds of love, but it was hard to deny that the hiking,
biking, and climbing combination was wreaking havoc
on my Achilles. What had been a mild ache earlier in
the week was now causing me to limp. I spent most of
our rest day with my foot in a trash can lled with ice. It
felt nothing short of bleak, and I knew if my foot didnt
get better, Id be done. The thought of coming this far
only to fail sparked an agonizing fear.

samuel crossley (3)

My sister Stasia lives in Portland, Oregon, practically

the cycling capital of America, and has never owned a
car. She not only bikes more than 100 miles a week as
a commuter, but she does big bike tours on weekends
and vacations just for fun. She is, in a word, a biker.
And by happy coincidence, she planned on vacationing in California the same time we were wrapping up
our bike tour, so she joined us for the last few peaks.
It was perfect timing, too, because our morale was
on a steady decline. The combined aches and pains
in all our joints and the general fatigue conspired to
make the scenery a little less beautiful and the climbing a lot less fun. Stasia biked in circles around us,
snapping pictures and marveling at the amazing
mountains of the eastern Sierra. She biked up to
Mt. Whitney with us, and then hiked the third-class
Mountaineers Route while we soloed more technical
terrain [for me, the Harding Route on Keeler Needle
and the Mithril Dihedral on Mt. Russell]. We met
back up with her at the trailhead at the end of the day
and all biked back down into town together. Enthusiastic by nature, she was stoked to have gone up into
the mountains. What for Cedar and me was another
grueling day at the ofce was a beautiful adventure
for her.
Her outside perspective, overall energy, and good nature made the whole undertaking a lot more enjoyable.
After two and a half weeks of constant biking and
hiking, Cedar and I were beginning to lose some of
the motivation that had prompted the whole adventure to begin with. But when Stasia joined us, we were
able to physically draft of her bicycle to save energy,
but, more importantly, to draft of her motivation for
being in a beautiful new place. While we were ready
to just put our heads down and grind out the last few
peaks just for the sake of nishing our mission, she
forced us to look up and enjoy the view.
Part of what got us psyched for this Suferfest was the
concept that we would avoid standard routes up the
majority of the peaks. Instead, we would solo technical routes. While Alex is famous for his solo climbing,
I also have a background in the ropeless art that goes
back to my days as a dirtbag in Joshua Tree, where
I onsight-soloed hundreds of routes. We both liked

Alex Honnold

Cedar Wright

the idea that our ability to climb ropeless would allow

us to travel by bike with nothing more than climbing
shoes and chalkbags.
Each time we approached a mountain with a committing section of soloing, I got all serious and even
a little nervous. Moments on the old-school 5.9+ route
Mithril Dihedral and the 2,000-foot 5.10a Sun Ribbon
Arte on Temple Crag were, for me, fully adventurous
life experiences, including moments of exhilaration, joy,
and freedom.
The anticipation is actually the hardest part of soloing, and at no point was there more anticipation
and nerves than on the last day as we walked up to the
north face of Langley to climb Rest and Be Thankful
(5.10). All we had was a nebulous description of the
route that we found online, along with the alarming
reality that we would be making the third or fourth
ascent of the route. Part of me wanted to just do the
normal route on Langley, but that felt like a big copout right at the grand nale of our mission.
Climbing a route onsight free solo is, in my opinion, the ultimate form of commitment to climbing,
and as we headed up the vertical face of Langley, we
werent even sure if we were on route or not. At times,
I improvised beta to reach past loose akes and blocks
or avoid suspect footholds. Halfway up the route, we
were still not positive that we were on the right track.
Unnerving. At one point I was bear-hugging around
a teetering, loose block. Ive always had a morbid
streak, and for a second I pictured what it would be
like to fall hundreds of feet to the base far below.
As we neared the summit and the difculties slightly subsided, a pure joy washed over me, and I felt
buoyant and moved toward the top like a diver swimming for the surface. On the summit tears welled
up in my eyes. We did the math and estimated that if
you were to combine all of the vertical mileage we had
covered, we could have climbed into outer space. We
wereas far as I knowthe rst people ever to climb
all of Californias 14ers by bike, and I was genuinely
proud. Dude, how rad would it be to do this again
next year? I said. All of the pain and sufering disappeared, and left in its place was this moment of pure
elation. And I still blame Alex Honnold.
I didnt touch my bike for weeks after the Suferfest.
But despite all the sufering and Cedars questionable
judgment (or perhaps because of it), we are indeed
planning another bike tour this spring. It should be a
bit lighter on the biking and heavier on the climbing,
but another big adventure either way. Looking back at
it now, it all seems so very worthwhile. Our memories
are always a bit unreliable about these kinds of things.
Cedars 18-minute lm titled Suferfest was selected to
tour the world with the Banf Mountain Film Festival.
Check banfcentre.ca for showing locations and dates.
Or head to climbing.com/videos to view the lm in
ve smaller episodes.

It was funny
to meet the
unfamous but
equally badass
female hippy
Honnold who
doesnt own
a car and is
a vegetarian
philanthropist. We were
also joined by
filmmaking
student Samuel Crossley,
who helped
me document
the tour. The
two of them
together were
a shining light.
-CW

Seeing it
described so
beautifully
almost makes
me feel bad
for calling you
a pansy the
whole time.
-AH

Some pretty
generous
rounding, there,
Cedar. -AH

Yeah, it
wasnt that
bad at all!
-CW

climbing.co m

| 65

VIPERS LOOK A LOT LIKE STICKS. Thats a thought you never want to cross your mind
when climbing. But 20 feet off the ground, with a broken puzzle of loose rock below me and
a deadly Armenian viper slithering out of a perfect nger jam above me, it was the rst thing
that popped into my head. A moving stick, I thought. Cool. And then reality hit in the form of
beady snake eyes and a icking tongue: Dont get bit, and dont fall on the sketchy gear in
the poor rock. Then came the mental clincher: Dont get any more injured than you already
are, idiot.
Six months before landing in Armenia, Id reefed a ligament in my index nger. My doctor
eventually mandated 21 days in a brace. On day 22, I stepped onto the tarmac in Yerevan. I
hadnt climbed at all in six weeks, or very hard or even that well in ve months. Putting up a
rst ascent seemed like a perfectly logical plan, until I was actually climbing. Our rst day out,
my good friend and climbing partner Kate Rutherford elegantly danced the rope up a 5.10
corner. She made it look good and easyher specialty. I got a third of the way up and made
it look hard and awkward, or like I was trying to climb without using my lef handbecause I
was. I began to wonder if climbing in Armenia was really a good idea. Or climbing at all. Armenian vipers kill several local farmers every year. But I was less scared of the viper than I was of
my own injured body and my inability to trust it completely in situations where I needed to.
Ive been climbing full-time for 17 yearsif you dont subtract the time Ive lost to my
dozen injuries and recoveries. Ive recently coined a term for that time during recovery
when youre still vulnerable: Twinkie climbing. In your peak physical condition, think of your
body as a watertight vesselyou can contract every muscle and move as a unit up rock or
ice. When youre injured, the vessels integrity is compromised, and you are missing some
fundamental contraction and cohesiveness in your body from either the actual injury or the
mental fear and anxiety around that injury. Put another way, when youre injured, youre a
Twinkie, and all you have to protect your core is sof, yellow cake.
Life would be great if we bounced back quickly to 100 percent afer recovery. But the reality is that once you get back on the vertical horse, you are still in recovery. Comeback climbing takes patience and acceptance of your vulnerability. It takes stepping back to the grades
you began at and working your way back up. Early on in my climbing career, I used to ght
it. Id be determined to get back to whatever was my hardest grade, and Id end up a scared
and leaking Twinkie. These days, I try to embrace the comeback and revisit moderate climbs.
Turns out its wicked fun to not be scared when youre climbing. It also lets you climb harder
sooner. Im not saying I always get it right. Sometimes it takes a poisonous snake to remind
me Im trying to come back the wrong way. Heres a cheat sheet Ive assembled from my
eternal comeback career to help you on your next round.*
*Some guiding thoughts: (1) This advice is meant to supplement that of your medical professional. But you already knew
that. (2) Comeback climbing is best done on toprope. (3) For best results, do some cross-training with your comeback climbing: swimming, running, biking, walking, etc. (4) And remember this as an unbreakable rule: You are comeback climbing, not
re-injuring yourself climbing. Climb. Rest. Recover. Got it?
68 |

FEBRUARY 2014

WHIPLASH

SHOULDER
INJURY OR
SURGERY

CULPRIT: Cars, other drivers, and elk.

Awkward bouldering falls when your
body rockets down can also cause it.
HIGH-MAINTENANCE ADJUSTMENT: Traveling on long plane rides
with my own pillow to three dozen
countries ever since.
COMEBACK STRATEGY: Think back to when
you started climbingwhether that was 25 years
or 2.5 months ago. Think of the rst climb you
ever did when you realized you could actually do
itthat you were a climber. Go do that route (or
as similar a route as you can nd). And then do
it again. Find another climb at the same grade.
And another. Look for routes that create a smile
on your face because they are about the pure joy
of movement. These will be your anchor climbs.
Think two to three grades below your ghting
grade (5.10a climber? Hop on 5.7 and 5.8).
Subtract more the harder you climb. Youre looking
for cruiser terrain where you dont have to look up
because you know your next hold will always magically appear when you need it. This will be easier
on your neck and keep you moving and owing and
having fun. Start out climbing once every three to
four days and only increase if nothing hurts more.
Once you can do your anchor climbs ve days a
week, you can step it up to harder routes.
WHAT TO AVOID: Steep climbing is not your
friend when recovering from a neck injury
because you want to avoid incessantly looking
up. Pick slabs instead. Skip the runout leads and
anything with potential for jostling falls.
EXCUSE TO MILK: Climb in groups of three
and trade out the high-intensity leader belays
for double toprope belays for your friends extra
burns. Youll keep yourself from looking up too
much and earn high marks for your generosity.

BROKEN
FOOT
CULPRIT: A microwave-size rock
hit and rolled over my lef foot in Red
Rock, Nevada.
UNFORESEEN LINGERING ISSUE:
I had to drop out of hip-hop dance
classes. I still cannot hip-hop dance.
COMEBACK STRATEGY: Dave Knop, a PT,
OMT, CSCS who owns Livevital Physical Therapy
and Performance in Portland, Maine, offers this
advice: Use this valuable time to shore up the
leaks and strengthen any areas of weakness.
Working on your core and back will pay dividends
and can be done with little to no impact on
your lower body.* Many classic gym exercises
such as lat pull-downs, bicep curls, pushups,
shoulder presses, and more can be done kneeling, emphasizing your core more than if you just
sit, and helping you refrain from accidentally
pushing on your foot. Added bonus: Youll end up
a better climber in the long run with a stronger
center (and have callused knees to talk about
at parties). Other strategies include investing in comfortable and stiff climbing shoes to
help your foot lever on edges. Baby your injured
foot, enjoy juggy sport climbing, and use big
foot holds to get your foot strong before relying
on its edging power. Try out ice climbing if you
havent alreadythe stiff boots and minimal foot
articulation may allow you to get outside and
climb sooner.

CULPRIT: Overuse.
BEST & WORST MOMENTS: Asking
out the surgeontwicewho operated on me when coming out of
anesthesia.
COMEBACK STRATEGY: Rediscover the truism
climbing is all about your feet. Enjoy moderate
slabs and stemming corners, and look for climbs
that have twice as many holds as you need (i.e.,
think of the climb youd take your 60-year-old
uncle whos never climbed onpick that one).
Spend more time looking at your feet than your
arms, scanning for holds and concentrating on
strong foot placements. Youll come out seeing
more micro foot edges and smears that will help
you become a better climber down the road.
WHAT TO AVOID: Afer one painful and failed attempt to grab a hold at maximum reach, I started
picturing myself as having T-rex arms that could
not fully extend. Have a T-rex circle of power
(about half your normal reach) where every hold
has to exist in order to use it. As your shoulder
heals, your circle of power and holds will expand
until youre working at full reach.
EXCUSE TO MILK: Awkward side-reachy things
will be hard for a whilefor seven years and
counting if youre like me. If you have a previous shoulder injury, you have an escape hatch
for life about not being able to do a one-arm
sideways dyno.

WHAT TO AVOID: One-legged climbing. Some

climbers get away with continuing to climb,
boot/cast/brace and all, but I suffered a shoulder
injury a year later that I blame on overusing on
my arms to save my leg. Also, avoid bouldering
and runout routes. This is not the time to fall.
EXCUSE TO MILK: Give your partners the footcrushing ared crack leads and follow in your
approach shoesyoull whine less, and theyll
feel like a hero.

*This plan works for any lower-extremity injury.

CLIMBING.COM

| 69

FINGER
LIGAMENT

PESKY KNEE
CULPRIT: No idea.
ADDED BENEFIT: Got to see the
shoulder doctor again. Almost went
for the asking-out hat trick, but nally
found self restraint.
COMEBACK STRATEGY: If youre cleared for
cycling but not big hikes, expand your list of
potential climbs by adding a ride to and from the
roadside crag. Youll get a better all-around workout and burn off your post-injury angst in a safe
way on the ride instead of trying to bear down on
the wrong foothold on-route. Knop adds, Cycling
or taking a spin class can be an effective method
of circulating the synovial uid for continued joint
nutrition. During times of weight-bearing restriction, cycling serves as a relative deload with an
added conditioning benet.
WHAT TO AVOID: Offwidths, kneebars, massive
stems, and anything that creates serious strain
and twist on your knee will be out for a while. Pick
similar climbs as suggested for the broken foot
on the previous pagei.e., big foot holds, easier
grades, and climbs where you can move uidly.
EXCUSE TO MILK: Im a trad climber tried and
true, and I used my knee injury in an attempt to be
a better sport climber and work on my climbing
weaknesses. I made two things clear to everyone
I climbed with: I was hurt, and sport climbing had
never been my thing. With expectations (mainly
mine) lowered, I could keep climbing and enjoy
new terrain and a different climbing style.

BACK
SURGERY
CULPRIT: One fall off a ladder, one decade of carrying heavy packs, and two
parents worth of bad back genetics.
EXTRA PUNCH: Ten percent of
microdiscectomy surgeries fail.
Always a striver, I made that 10 percent
and got a second one (not) free.
COMEBACK STRATEGY: Back surgery is big. I
had to go back to the very beginning to return to
climbing. Think moderates with zero approach,
zero danger, and zero strain. This is a great time to
go back to those anchor climbs or nd new ones if
youve moved. Dial back your gymnastic climbing
and climb more one-dimensionallyas in, climb
more ladder-style routes with minimal pivots and
twists. My back rehab with my PT was all about
my core, and this was key to climbing. Employ the
T-rex idea from shoulder comebacks, and extend
the thought to your legs as well as arms. You want
to be a safe, predictable, and tight unit, slowly
expanding into the 360-degree realm, 20 degrees
at a time.
WHAT TO AVOID: The sharp end can feel exceptionally sharp post-back surgery. It did for me. The
biggest thing I had to avoid, accordingly, was my
ego when I handed over the rack to my partners.
That happensor shouldwith any comeback,
but with back surgeries, it had to happen for
longer. Make sure your partners are extra careful
about keeping you tight above ledges and off the
ground so you dont bounce on toprope.
EXCUSE TO MILK: Develop your bartering skills
and offer to buy the beer, bake the cake, or man
the grill in exchange for carrying a lighter pack to
the crag. If your climbing partner is still unwilling
to shoulder more of the load, launch into a diatribe
about the meds you were on and how they affected your digestion. Chances are hell grab the
extra gear and take off for the crag at a trot.

CULPRIT: Underuse post-ice

climbing season followed by pulling
too hard during spring rock climbing
on a two-nger pocket at Cathedral
Ledge, New Hampshire.
ODD BENEFIT: Belaying also made
it hurt, so ability to claim princess
status in teams of three.
COMEBACK STRATEGY: Avoid vipers. Rediscover and nd big, moderate routes with long
approaches so that each climb takes longer to do
and you rest your hands by spending 80 percent
of the climb hiking. Enjoy the additional cardio
tness this gives you and start exploring some
of the gems in the mountains youve never done.
I was able to ice climb all winter on a hurt nger
because the grip on ice tools didnt pull at my
ligament. I kept current in the (frozen) vertical and
was able to focus on hard ice and mixed climbing
objectives instead of being tempted to pull on my
nger just to check and see how it was doing.
WHAT TO AVOID: Finger cracks (shocker) and
tweaker holds.
EXCUSE TO MILK: Climbing never felt ngerdependent until I hurt my nger. Express wonder
at how such a little thing can hurt so much, and
climbers around you will fear for their own ngers
and give you a breakaka, look the other way
when you reverse your hand position and barn door
each time you try to ascend.

AT MY MOST OPTIMISTIC, ID TELL YOU MY FINGER INJURY IS MY LAST. But I

know that might not be true. And if theres one thing Ive learned through all of this, its that
I can get through, over, and beyond any injuryand that that process will make me a better human by making me see the world beyond my injury, and beyond climbing. The added
bonus is that better humans make better climbers, no matter what.
Have you had an injury that I havent sustained in my illustrious career? Most likely one
of the above strategies in that given zone will work for yours, too. Above all, remember this:
Injury is never easy. I remind myself of that each time I get one. But Ive also come to cherish
the process of the comeback. There is something about returning to climbing at its simplest
and easiest to remind you of who you are and why you climb in the rst place.

Majka Burhardt estimates that it would take 3.75 hours per day and every color of TheraBand to do all of the PT exercises she should be doing to keep her old injuries at bay. Shed
rather go climbing. Read more of her work at majkaburhardt.com.

PETER DOUCETTE

The author enjoying time between comebacks on Angel

Cakes (WI5), Frankenstein Cliff, New Hampshire

CLIMBING.COM

| 71

CLINICS

75
RIPPED FROM
THE HEADLINES

TRAINING

GUIDES TIP

BEGIN HERE

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES

UELI STECKS ANNAPURNA KIT

By Dougald MacDonald

worseif something goes

wrong. In addition to his basic
clothing and warm boots with
integrated gaiters, heres what
Steck opted to carry for his
historic climb.

40-LITER PACK
850-FILL DOWN JACKET
WITH HOOD; SYNTHETICFILL JACKET WITH HOOD

PACK LIKE A SPEEDRECORD HOLDER TO

MOVE FASTER

SKIP STERLING

How much gear do you need for

a new route on an 8,000-foot
Himalayan face? Traditional,
expedition-style ascents required
so much in the past that an army
of porters and yaks had to haul it
all to base camp. But times have
changed.

In early October 2013, the bold

and talented Swiss alpinist
Ueli Steck carried less than 18
pounds on his back for a new
route up the super-steep south
face of 26,545-foot Annapurna
in Nepal. (Steck had previously established Camp 1 on
Annapurna, but this gear was
all he used above 20,000 feet.)
With no partner and minimal
equipment, Steck relied on great
skill and tness to get up and
down Annapurna in just 28
hours. (See p. 54 for more on
this ascent.) There is not a lot
of reserve when you climb like
this, Steck says. I was up there
with nothing. This allows you to
move fast, but if you cant move
anymore, then it gets very serious very quickly.
Though few will ever plan
such bold climbs, all alpinists
engage in similar decision making while packing for a route,
and some of Stecks thinking
applies to every ascent.
Too much weight, and you
move too slowly. Too little,
and you could be strandedor

Steck chose this combination to

layer for the extreme variation
in temperature between day
and night, and for 8,000 feet
of elevation change. During
the day, usually a thin layer is
enough, so I just wear the synthetic insulated jacket. Later, at
night, the down jacket would not
be enough, but together with the
synthetic one, it was perfect.

DOWN MITTENS AND

GLOVES
While examining a photo of
the face on his camera, Steck
dropped the camera and one of
his mittens. He had to continue
through the night wearing his
liner gloves, alternating the
warmer mitten on each hand.

HELMET
ULTRALIGHT HARNESS
60-METER ROPE (6 MM)
This super-thin ropeessentially
a tag line or accessory cordwas
only carried for the descent.
My decision was to climb the
face without a rope. If it got so
technical that I could not climb
without a rope, I would have to
turn back, he says. Even on the
way down, the rope was used
sparingly. With [only] 60
meters of 6mm rope and ve
pitons, you dont rappel a
2,500-meter face!

2 ICE SCREWS
5 PITONS
ABALAKOV HOOK
The Abalakov hook, or Vthreader, was named for Russian

climber Vitaly Abalakov, who invented the technique of drilling

two intersecting holes in solid ice
and threading a sling through
them for a rappel anchor. Vthreads allow climbers to make
many rappels with minimal
anchor equipment. See how to do
it at climbing.com/skill/lowcost-rappels-on-ice.

medical kit: ibuprofen for pain

and inammation; dexamethasone for altitude sickness;
Adalat (nifedipine) for altitude
sickness; Tramal (tramadol)
for pain relief; Imodium for
diarrhea.

KNIFE

The Swiss climber brought about

3.5 ounces of cheese but left it at
Camp 1. Instead, he relied on six
PowerBars and two packets each
of PowerGel, Performance Energy Blend, and Peronin Cacao
energy-drink mix, for a total of
about 3,200 calories.

CARABINERS AND SLINGS

CRAMPONS
ICE TOOLS
TENT
Steck carried a super-light (2
lbs., 8 oz.) single-wall tent up the
route but left his sleeping bag at
Camp 1. Why? He didnt plan
to stop long enough to need the
sleeping bag, but the tent is very
important. It protects you from
the wind [while you melt snow]
to brew some drinks, he says.

SUNSCREEN
ENERGY FOOD

Pre-climb ritual:
According to photographer Dan
Patitucci, Steck likes to eat a
Hostess cupcake before starting
up an 8,000-meter peak.

STOVE AND INTEGRATED

POT
1 GAS CARTRIDGE
WATER BOTTLE
SUNGLASSES AND
GOGGLES
Why both sunglasses and
goggles? Because, Steck says, If
you dont have any protection
for your eyes, you get snow blind
very fast, which means you are
dead. So you have extra glasses.
Plus, goggles protect your face
from the wind, but are not
comfortable during the day when
its hot.

HEADLAMP
SPARE BATTERIES
SATELLITE PHONE
CAMERA
FIRST AID KIT
Steck carried a small but varied

UELI STECK
With multiple big-mountain
speed records, Steck, 37, is
recognized as one of the worlds
best fast-and-light alpinists
for solo and team ascents, from
the Alps to the Himalaya. Steck
keeps his gear and his partners
minimal, as not many people
can keep up with his high level
of fitness and stamina. Read
more about his accomplishments at climbing.com.

CLIMBI NG.COM

| 75

TRAINING

CLINICS

OLYMPIC ICE
By Leia Larsen

TRAIN INDOORS FOR ICE AND MIXED CLIMBING

When it comes to training, rock climbers have it easy. Look online for countless articles on diferent ways to get
stronger, and then work hard in the gym (and there seems to be a new one popping up on every corner) to get
better on the rock. (See our favorite workouts at climbing.com/skill/training.) But ice and mixed climbers
dont get the same benet from pulling on plastic, and training resources are harder to nd. With an upcoming
mixed-climbing showcase in the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, we reached out to participant Aaron
Montgomery and his trainers at the Alpine Training Center in Boulder, Colorado, to gure out their plan of attack. The following program will get you plenty of mileage on your gear, build unique tness, and increase trust
in your tools. Most of these exercises can be done at the rock gym (ask if there is an area approved for ice tools),
on homemade woodies, or even using a secured ladder.

THE
SCHEDULE
Youll work in two blocks of
four to six weeks each. Both
sections include two to three
tool-specific sessions (plus a few
days of cardio) a week, and the
second includes less focused,
endurance-building climbing
with tools. Block 1 should be
considered pre-season training
that focuses on building a core
foundation and grip endurance.
Montgomery says the first block
is especially important for de-

veloping body control and being

able to hold on for bigger and
better movements. The second
block sharpens your skill set
with climbing-specific training,
which is a big piece of the ice
puzzle for those who are already
rock climbers. Montgomery
says its all about technique
with your feet and with tool
management. Improve these,
and youll improve as an ice and
mixed climber.

AARON MONTGOMERY
As one of three U.S. athletes chosen to demonstrate mixed climbing
at the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games, Montgomery stood out because
of his accomplishments (e.g., participation in two World Cups and
sending the massive Usine Cave in France) and his proven dedication as an ambassador for the sport.

BLOCK 1

Do the following exercises two to three times per week, along with three or four days of aerobic activity (hiking, running, rowing, etc.).
One cardio session should be high intensity (challenging enough to where you cant maintain it for prolonged periods) or intervals; one
moderate (working hard but can maintain for 40 to 45 minutes); and one long and slow (lasting 60 to 90 minutes or more)preferably
with a pack. The optional fourth day of cardio should be moderate to high intensity. A sample week might look like this:

Block 1 exercises;
two-hour hike
with pack (long
and slow cardio)

Monday

Tuesday

35 minutes of
hill sprints
(intervals/highintensity cardio)

Rest day

Wednesday
Block 1 exercises

Dead Hangs

Weighted Sit-Ups

Hook tools high on a secure

surface, like a hangboard or pullup bar. Hold each tool and hang
with shoulders engaged (think
of squeezing shoulder blades
together) and arms slightly bent
at the elbow. Hang for 10 seconds
and then rest 10 seconds; do 10
rounds for one set. Do three sets
total with a few minutes of rest
between each. Add ve to 10 seconds to each hang every week.

Start by lying on your back with

knees bent and feet at on the
oor in a standard sit-up position.
Hold a weighted plate above your
head with both arms straight. Pick
a weight that feels challenging
but doable. Engage abs and sit up,
keeping the weight directly above,
moving your head to between
your arms. Roll back down slowly
until your spine is at on the oor.
Complete 30 reps.

76 | FEBRUARY 2014

Thursday

Friday

One-hour bike
Block 1 exerride, keeping heart cises; one-hour jog
rate at 65% max
(moderate cardio)
(moderate cardio)

Overhead Weighted
Lunges
Stand with feet shoulder-width
apart and slightly bent, holding
a weighted plate above your
headagain picking a weight
that is challenging but doable.
Step forward into a low lunge.
Make sure your lunging knee
doesnt extend beyond your toes,
your arms dont bend, and your
chest is open and level. Complete 15 reps on each leg for

Saturday
Rest day

four to ve sets, resting a few

minutes between each set.

Tool Pull-Ups
Start with a max pull-up test:
Do as many pull-ups as you can
on tools without stoppingthis
is your max. For week one, do
80 percent of your max for four
rounds, resting one to two minutes between each round. Each
week, add one more pull-up to
the set.

SKIP STERLING

Sunday

MIXED IN THE OLYMPICS Mixed climbing will debut in the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, but athletes like Montgomery wont be competing for medals. Organizers are calling it a cultural
event, an opportunity for athletes to wow crowds with their skills. The main goal is to present the
possibility for people to discover and practice ice and mixed climbing with the support of top climbers.
There will be 80 athletes, with six from North America. For more information, check out theuiaa.org.

76

77

BLOCK 2

Once youve built your core strength, grip, and endurance, its time to incorporate more tool-specic exercises to improve power and
performance on the ice. Add the following movements to the previous blocks exercises, so youre doing all of them two to three days
per week. Decrease aerobic days to one high-intensity session and one long and slow session with a pack. Lastly, add one to two days of
climbing with tools, a few hours at a time, to build endurance, either outside or at a gym that allows dry-tooling. A sample week:

Sunday
Three-hour hike
with heavy pack
(long and slow
cardio)

Tool Lunges

Monday

Tuesday

Block 1 and Block

2 exercises

Start low on a vertical wall in a

neutral position, hooking your
left tool on a hold. Hang from it
in a rest position with left arm
straight, legs bent, and right
arm free. Pushing with your
right leg and using the left arm
to pull your body into the wall,
lunge your right arm high and
hook a hold for one second, and
then return to rest. Complete
ve to 10 reps, and then switch
arms and repeat. This creates
the explosiveness to move high,
but it also helps if you miss a
hold. You can come back down
and recover, Montgomery says.
Make it more challenging:
As the movement becomes
easier, try lunging on overhangs.

Rest day

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Two hours of
climbing with
tools in the gym

Block 1 and Block

2 exercises

45 minutes
of hill sprints
(intervals/highintensity cardio)

Four hours of
climbing outside
on mixed terrain

Or add a weighted kettlebell to

the lunging arm by clipping it to
the tool handle.

Leg Lifts

Building on the grip strength

and endurance from dead
hangs, hang from tools (or suspended handles; see Build Your
Own Training Tools below)
with arms slightly bent. While
hanging, bend knees in a resting
position. With knees still bent,
raise legs, bringing knees to
your left elbow. Keep body static
and core engagedno swinging.
Return to resting position, and
then raise knees to the right elbow. Return to resting, and then
raise to center, near your chest.
Complete up to 10 rounds for

three sets, with a few minutes of

rest between each set.
Make it more challenging:
Instead of knees to elbows,
complete the same exercise but
keep your legs straight and raise
your ankles above your head to
the left, right, and center.

Tool Rows

Hang from tools (or handles),

keeping elbows and body
straight, with feet up on a milk
crate. Your body should be
parallel to the oor and arms
perpendicular to your body. Pull
down and in with one arm while
reaching up and across your
body with the other arm, using
your core to keep you balanced.
Alternate sides. Figure out your

max (like with tool pull-ups),

and do 80 percent of your max
for four rounds. Add reps over
the block of training.

Hanging Moves

Suspend four tool handles

from quickdraws so they can be
clipped to bolts. Engage your
core and raise your legs (knees
bent for easier, straight for more
difcult), and then swing your
body to move from handle to
handle. Start by moving for 15
seconds at a time, several times
a session. Add ve seconds of
hang time per round as you
build endurance.
Make it more challenging:
Do a pull-up between each
move from handle to handle.

BEN FULLERTON (2)

BUILD YOUR
OWN TRAINING
TOOLS
To prevent tearing up holds at the gym or dulling his
picks, Montgomery makes suspended tool handles
that can hang from draws. He uses the Cassin XDream tools ($280 each, camp-usa.com), which have
removable handles (easily detach by unscrewing one
bolt). Run a 3/16-inch stainless steel anchor (about
$16 for six, available at most hardware stores), and
use it to connect a carabiner and sling. A cheaper alternative to pricey ice-tool handles is to use a sanded
wooden handle (pictured at left) or a metal pipe.
Drill a hole through the top for the same biner-sling
setup, but make sure to wrap them with tape to keep
your digits splinter- and apper-free.

CLIMBING.COM

| 77

CLINICS

GUIDES TIP

SINGLE-HITCH BELAY ESCAPE

By Eli Helmuth

LEARN THIS SIMPLE AND EFFICIENT WAY TO ESCAPE THE BELAY

Keeping it straightforward is a good credo for rescue and almost anything climbing-related, and this particular skill is a good example
of how to streamline the act of escaping a belay. It uses minimal steps, equipment, and hitches or knots, especially when compared to more
complicated methods that require lesser-used hitches and additional know-how. This technique is designed for belaying a following climber
from the top of a pitch, and although belaying directly of the anchor with an auto-blocking belay device is convenient, there are times when
it is preferable to belay directly of the harness. Two times I recommend belaying of your harness: when the master point is so low that the
device would be in contact with the ground or a ledge, and when the anchor is less than full strength (common in blocky alpine environments). However, a lead belayer on the ground or on a multi-pitch with an anchor suited for an upward pull can also use this technique.

g. 1
Make sure youre
attached to the anchor
with the rope and a
clove hitch.

Have cord or a sling

easily accessible.

This rope will be

weighted with the
fallen climber.

Tie off the rope with

three to four leg wraps,
pulling a loop of slack
up and through.

Use the backside of your

rope to attach to the biner
on the prusik or Klemheist.

Keep leg wraps as a

backup.

78 | FEBRUARY
2014 2014
78 | FEBRUARY

Adjust clove hitch so

rope is tight.
Attach the Klemheist
(pictured) or prusik to
the rope, with a biner
on the other end.

BEN FULLERTON (4)

g. 2

For more information on rescue techniques and scenarios, check out our guide to self
rescue at climbing.com/self-rescue. It includes three important methods that might
be necessary in the eld: ascending a rope, passing a knot, and escaping a belay.

FIGURE
1
Once youve successfully
stopped the fall with the rope
in the brake position and youve
determined that a belay escape
is necessary, wrap the rope
around the upper leg near the
crotch with three to four wraps.
Now bring a loop of tail up and
through the wraps to secure it.
These quick and easy leg wraps
will allow you to operate handsfree in order to do the following
steps. There are innite scenarios where a belay escape is
required: A seconding climber
can be injured on toprope due
to a pendulum, slack in the
system, rope stretch, and falling
rock, just to name a few.

FIGURE
2
If you (the belayer) are not
already attached to the anchor
with the climbing rope, use a
locking biner and a clove hitch
to attach yourself directly to
the anchor from your harness.
Then youll want to connect
the loaded rope directly to the
anchor with a sling or closed
loop of cord and a non-locking
biner. Use a prusik hitch if you
have cord or make a Klemheist
with a shoulder-length sling,
which is easy and most efective
at gripping an already-loaded
climbing rope. Attach this hitch
to the followers rope and clip
the non-locker to the sling/
cord, and then use the rope on

78

g. 3

the backside of your attachment knot to connect to the

non-locker with a clove hitch.
Adjust the clove hitch so this
connecting section is tight.

FIGURE
3
Unwrap the rope from your leg
and slowly load the sling/cord
(feeding the rope through the
belay device) to check that the
hitch is holding securely. While
the sling/cord setup holds the
weight of the climber, attach the
brake side of the rope directly
to the anchor with a locking
carabiner (or two non-lockers
opposed and reversed) and a
clove hitch, and then remove
the belay device from the rope.
Adjust the clove hitch so that
this section of rope is tight, too.
Youve successfully escaped
the belay and secured the
climber directly to the anchor.
Now its time to make a plan
for what to do next. Although
each rescue scenario demands
its own procedure, the best way
to learn is to train directly with
an AMGA guide. While there
are some decent rescue books
out there, most of them are not
helpful for recreational climbers
or modern enough in the techniques they teach. My website
(climbinglife.com) provides
some instructional videos, and I
ofer monthly self-rescue clinics
all summer. Reach out to your
local guiding services to nd
clinics near you.

79

Lower the weight

onto the sling
slowly using the
belay device.

g. 3.1

Attach the rope

to the anchor,
and then remove
the device and
take out slack.

ASK A GUIDE

SKIP STERLING

For bolted toprope anchors, can I just

girth-hitch my slings through the
anchor chains or rings instead of using
carabiners?
Kevin
Its generally not a problem to girth-hitch
slings through rounded chains or rings
as long as they do not have sharp edges
due to constant lowering and rappelling.
This will not make the system stronger or
easier to clean after use, but it will eliminate a few carabiners, and its a reasonable
solution when you have minimal gear to
build an anchor.

ELI HELMUTH
An internationally certied
mountain guide since 1991 and
an AMGA instructor/examiner since 1999, Eli Helmuth is
based in Estes Park, Colorado,
and leads expeditions to South
America, Alaska, and Asia
with his company Climbing
Life Guides (climbinglife.com).
Helmuth also ofers skiing seminars and backcountry adventures in his backyard: Rocky
Mountain National Park.

Climbing (USPS No. 0919-220, ISSN No. 0045-7159) is published ten times a year (February, March, April (Gear), May, July (Photo Annual), August, September, October, November, December/January) by SkramMedia LLC, 2520 55th St., Suite 210, Boulder, CO 80301. Periodicals postage paid at Boulder, CO, and additional mailing ofces. Canada Post publications agreement
No. 40008153. Subscription rates are $29.97 for one year of postal delivery in the United States. Add $20 per year for Canada and $40 per year for surface postage to other foreign
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Palm Coast FL 32142-0235.
CLIMBING.COM

| 79

CLINICS

.
80
RIPPED FROM
THE HEADLINES

TRAINING

GUIDES TIP

BEGIN HERE

BEGIN HERE

TRAVELING ON A ROPE TEAM

By Shannon Davis

SPACING
Keep about 30 feet of rope (or
roughly ve to six wingspans)
between each climber (A).
Increase spacing by ve feet on
small rope teams (to allow more
time to arrest), or if pulling sleds
or traveling across Alaska-size
snow bridges. Decrease distance
to around 25 feet if traveling on
a team of four (which will have

more arresting power due to

added weight). Start from the
middle of the rope and measure
out, tying gure eights on a
bight for team members to clip
into using reversed and opposed
carabiners (one locking, one
non-locking). For a three-person
team, tie a gure eight on a bight
in the middle of the rope, and
then measure 30 feet in either
direction for the next two gure
eights. Coil up the slack on either
end for the rst and last team
member to store in his pack to
deploy in case of crevasse rescue.

PRUSIKS
Many rope teams pre-rig prusiks
(or other friction knots) on the
rope, so the victim of a crevasse
fall can quickly attempt to selfrescue by ascending the rope.
However, this setup has the
disadvantage of limiting a teams
ability to transition to belayed

NUMBERS
How many people should be on
a rope team? If youre a party of
two or three, your answer is easy.
But what about parties of four
or six? Consider the practical
challenges of the route. Smaller
teams travel more efciently
through technical terrain and
can quickly change into belay or
short-rope mode on rm, steep
snow. But a team of more than
two has greater stopping power
(weight) during a crevasse falla
major concern on early-season
climbs and when the snow is soft.
On Rainier, for example, break
your party into groups of three or
four for the best balance of speed
and arresting power. Rainier has
enough crevasse risk that its nice
to have the extra braking heft, but
teams of this size can still quickly
navigate obstacles like Cathedral
Gap and the Cleaver.

STOPPER KNOTS
These are knots (generally buttery knots; learn to tie

80 |

FEBRUARY 2014

climbing, short-rope scenarios,

and changing the distance
between climbers. Most guides
recommend racking prusiks on
the harness until needed because
crevasse falls, while potentially
catastrophic (and scary!), are
actually quite rare.

TENSION
Ascending, traversing, and
descending a snow-draped
peak while tied to two or three
other people can be a thing
of beautyor one of the most
annoying means of foot travel
youve ever experienced. Here are
some pointers to help ensure its
the former. There are two main
rules: 1. Dont let slack build
up in the rope ahead of you. 2.
When the rope behind you allows you to walk forward without
tugging, go for itunless doing
so breaks tenet number one. The
length of rope between climbers
should drag along the snow but
arc up to your harness so that
you are not tripping over it (B).
(Think about a smiley face where
a few feet in the middle of the
rope lightly contacts the ground,
and it goes up on both ends to
connect to the climbers.) Excess
slack in the system allows any
fall, be it into a crevasse or down
a snowy face, to generate speed,
making it harder to arrest.

PICKETS

For running belays and crevasserescue anchors, pack a couple

of 60cm pickets (C). On steep,
hard snow where arresting a fall
might be tricky (or impossible),
drive a picket just uphill from
the rope team about 10 degrees
away from the potential direction
of pull. Hammer it until its at
least two-thirds buried, and then
clip the rope behind you into the
carabiner. When the next team
member arrives, hell get stable,
unclip the rope in front of him,
and then reach back to clip in
the rope behind him. The last
member on the team will remove
the picket and rack it, delivering
it to the rst team member at the
next rest break.

SUPERCORN

LEARN TO MOVE OVER

SNOW AS A SINGLE UNIT
FOR ADDED SAFETY
Got a peak like Mt. Rainier on
your tick list? If you have Alaskan
or Himalayan aspirations, you
should. Rainiers classic Disappointment Cleaver route is the
perfect introduction to mountaineering: Youll get a taste of
glacier travel, extreme weather,
and altitude, on a route thats
never steeper than 45 degrees and
that most can easily pull of in a
long weekend. To mitigate the
risk of falling on steep, hard snow
or ending up in a crevasse, its
essential to travel on a rope team,
so here are the basics. Practice in
an area with no consequences
or take a day-long snow-travel
course to get your team dialed
before you attempt a climb.

them at climbing.com/skill/
the-buttery-knot) tied in the
rope between climbers to create
greater friction to stop a crevasse
fallhandy for small rope teams
(two people). A caveat is that
these also increase resistance to
hauling and are impossible to
pass through a hauling system.
However, the rescuer can simply
drop a new strand or loop from
the leftover rope to start a
separate haul system that doesnt
include the stopper knots.

LASER SPEED
Starts quick. Fast through the turns.

www.petzl.com/LASER