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Three climbers freed a classic summer route using technical mixed skills at M8+
The post 13-Pitch Alpine Route Freed in Winter appeared first on Gripped Magazine.

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#drytooling #training #climbing

In 2016 at the International Climbers’ Festival in Lander, Wyoming, we held a “love letter to climbing” contest. Ana Ally was the winner, this is her letter. Enjoy.  Banner photo of the author by Scott Keating Climbing, my love. As I sit here, I struggle to find the right words to describe you. I am about…

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Have a fun and safe day Valentines Day 2025 if you head out climbing or skiing!
The post 10 Valentine’s Day Climbing Memes to Send appeared first on Gripped Magazine.

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Guess the climber
#art #figuredrawing #climbing #rockclimbing #bouldering #pencil #sports

As a youngster I was addicted to hills/mountains/rock climbing. I've only got 1 photo of me climbing from those days, we rarely took a camera. It was so hard getting to a crag that you climbed in rubbish condtions to avoid wasting a weekend. The shot is of me on P1 of Praying Mantis in Borrowdale on a damp grimy day, 1967ish, doing it wrongly of course. The mantra at the time was "the leader never falls" and you can see why! It's (usually) a bit safer these days. #Climbing #LakeDistrict

Thousands of seasonal employees won't be returning to work this summer when millions of Americans visit the National Parks
The post Trump Government Cuts Denali Rescue Team appeared first on Gripped Magazine.

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This episode is for the gear nerds out there. The climbing world loves to reminisce on some of climbing’s great inventions of the past, but what’s happening in gear innovation right now? We put together some brief interviews with innovators past and present, to dive into tinkering in the climbing world, then and now.

We’ll start with an excerpt from Yvon Chouinard’s "Legacy Series" interview to hear him reflect on revolutionizing the ice axe. Next, we’ll take a massive leap forward into present-day sport climbing tactics, and chat with Will McNeill, of HangDog Climbing, whose ultralight clip-up device is becoming all the rage in the world of sport projecting. Next, we’ll chat with Brent Barghahn, of Avant Climbing Innovations, about squeaking out the last bit of efficiency for rope soloing systems and hard trad climbing. Then, we’ll take a step back in time again, and chat with Jack Tackle about the late John Middendorf’s legacy in innovating the A5 portaledge, to set us up for our last conversation, a discussion with Nathan Kukathas of Grade 7 Equipment. Nathan is known for inventing the G7 Pod, which many say has been one of the biggest innovations for alpine climbing in years.

Through it all, we’ll talk about inspiration, what it takes to innovate in the climbing gear space, what could be next for climbing gear, and lots and lots about textiles, 3-D printing, and climbing harder.

HangDog Climbing (Clip-up Device)

Avant Climbing Innovations (Top-Rope Solo Lanyard and Flip-Stops)

Grade 7 Equipment (G7 Pod)

John Middendorf’s Gear History Website

The Cutting Edge Podcast: Jannu North Face

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Just in time for Valentine's Day, here are a few suggestions for merging your love life and climbing life
The post Five Tips For a Better Belay-tionship appeared first on Gripped Magazine.

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This waterproof layer is the perfect addition to your collection of jackets before the spring rain starts
The post MEC Aquanator is a Perfect Jacket for Spring appeared first on Gripped Magazine.

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Laura Rogora has onsighted American Hustle (8c), in Oliana, Spain.

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In this month’s Prescription, an expert climber made two crucial errors in her rope ascension/top-rope solo system. She fortunately escaped with relatively minor injuries.

This accident was featured in the 2024 Accidents in North American Climbing.
On October 8, 2023 Whitney Clark was ascending a fixed rope at the start of Valkyrie (17 pitches, 5.11+) when her single ascension device was jammed by a sling. She fell 30 feet to the ground.
Clark wrote to ANAC:
“We woke at around 6 a.m. and made our way to the fixed line from the day before. The days were short and we had many pitches to do. My partner, Luka Krajnc, went first, using a Grigri to jug and then transitioning to climbing. About 40 feet up, he clove-hitched the rope to a bolt. I then started jugging with a single Micro Traxion. Thirty feet up, I leaned back on the rope. My body weight wasn’t supported because the sling around my neck [part of the top-rope solo setup] got sucked into the device and caught in the teeth of the Traxion. The rope was sliding against the sling. I hadn’t tied a backup knot.”
Clark attempted to wrap the rope around her leg. But her rope was new, thin, and slippery. She wrote, “I grabbed the rope and slowly started sliding down. Eventually the rope burn was too painful and I let go. I hit the ground, landed on my feet, and fell backward. I struck my lower back and then my head. I was wearing a helmet. Because the ground was angled, some of the force was dissipated, though I landed six inches from a large rock spike.
“I never lost consciousness but was in a bit of shock. Luka rappelled down and did a spinal exam. He got me comfortable, and I sat there for a while. I had pain in my back and my left ankle. I used my inReach to call for a rescue while Luka retrieved our stuff. I started crawling and butt-scooting to where a heli could reach me. I would have loved to have self-rescued, but it’s a 16-mile hike out. It took about 2.5 hours of crawling to make it to a flat place. Four hours later, a helicopter airlifted me to the Visalia Level III trauma center.”
 Whitney Clark’s progress-capture device failed when the as-yet-unused retention sling got stuck in the device as she was ascending. It is common practice to use a sling and an elastic connection to hold the progress-capture device upright as one climbs along a fixed rope. Photo: Luka Krajnc
Top-rope soloing is becoming increasingly popular. In this video, Pete Takeda, Editor of Accidents in North American Climbing, and IFMGA/AMGA guide Jason Antin are back to provide an accident analysis and give you some quick tips on how to mitigate risk when top-rope soloing.
Top-rope soloing is an integral part of modern climbing. Currently, only one device (the El Mudo) is designed and commercially available for top-rope (and lead) soloing. There are many ways to configure these systems and we’ve demonstrated one possible solution here.
Solo top-roping allows a climber to self-belay when no partner is available, for a team to work on individual sections of a route without the need for a belayer, or for two climbers to move simultaneously, as in this situation. The errors Clark made were using only one device to safeguard her progress and not tying a backup knot.
“I was jugging by pulling on the rope, syncing up the slack, and sitting back,” Clark said. “The route was meandering and the fixed line didn’t allow me to readily climb, so I decided to jug straight up the initial blank slab. The sling around my neck was going to hold the Traxion upright [allowing the rope to feed freely] once I started climbing. I haven’t done any top-rope soloing since the accident. I probably will at some point, but I will definitely use two devices. This was the first time I only used a single progress-capture device.”  (Source: Whitney Clark.)
Each membership is critical to the AAC’s work: advocating for climbing access and natural landscapes, offering essential knowledge to the climbing community through our accident analysis and documentation of cutting edge climbing, and supporting our members with our rescue benefit, discounts, grants and more. Plus, get the new 2025 member tee!

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A new video features Sonnie Trotter and Em Pellerin climbing at the famous B.C. crag
The post This Will Make You Want to Visit Skaha appeared first on Gripped Magazine.

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From healthy food to getting outside, here are some ways to stay stoked during the final month of winter
The post 10 Tips to Climb Through the February Blues appeared first on Gripped Magazine.

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Spring climbing with warm weather and clear skies is just around the corner
The post Our Favourite Spring Rock Climbing Shoes appeared first on Gripped Magazine.

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Watch Zach Galla make the second ascent of The Smile V15
The post New Films from The North Face and Mellow appeared first on Gripped Magazine.

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