Mount Doom is a proposed V17 from Austrian climber Nicolai Užnik The post Another New V17, This Time in Austria appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/another-new-v17-this-time-in-austria/

Drew Ruana's Bookkeeping V16 climbs more like a short route than a boulder The post Austin Purdy Repeats a 25-Move V16 appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/austin-purdy-repeats-a-25-move-v16/

Originally published in Guidebook XIII Eric Gilbertson was on the summit of Rainier. Or was he? With the differential GPS set up in front of him, he hopped from foot to foot—it was cold up there, but he was also anxious to confirm his suspicions by applying a more rigorous measuring process to the changes he could see with the naked eye. Funded by the AAC Research Grant, he had used an Abney level to measure the relative heights of Columbia Crest, the traditional icecap summit of Rainier where he stood now, as compared to the actual highest point in the summit area—the southwest edge of the crater rim, which was a rock outcrop. Based on the Abney level, Columbia Crest was distinctly shorter than the southwest rim. With calculations spinning in his head, he noticed the unmistakably dirtier, more trampled quality of Columbia Crest, the way dirt and rocks seemed to muddle the pure snow dome, bringing a wilted quality to the landscape, especially compared to what he could remember seeing in old photographs of Rainier’s summit. He would have to wait to process the data from the differential GPS to be sure exactly by how much the summit had changed. Yet more than the relief of seeing his hypothesis likely confirmed, a bigger question loomed: Were mountains, which so many consider the stalwart indicator of the unmoving, the unchanging, the steady, actually shrinking? And what would it mean if they were? Eric Gilbertson is a man of many lists and projects. Each of his projects coalesces around peakbagging, and now surveying. The idea to research the current heights of the five remaining icecap peaks in the Lower 48, which includes Rainier, started when Mt. St. Helens eroded off the top 100 highest peaks of Washington list. Gilbertson had discovered that St. Helens had been steadily eroding by four inches each year since 1989, and because of that, St. Helens had technically fallen off the top 100 list around 2021. As an exacting, rigorous person who prizes accuracy above all in his life’s work, Gilbertson was intrigued—were there more discrepancy in the heights of the other top 100 Washington mountains? If his goal was to do all the hundred highest, and be the first to do them all in winter no less, he wanted to do it right. Before fact-checking the hundred highest list, before measuring the status of the five historical icecap peaks of the Lower 48, Eric and his brother Matthew had been pursuing what they called “The Country High Points Project.” Though the brothers are each respected alpinists in their own right, with several technical first ascents and inclusions in the American Alpine Journal to Eric’s name, they are peakbaggers at heart. Which is why they conceived of the project to get to the highest point of every country in the world, as defined by UN members and observer states, plus Antarctica. Thus, there are 196 highpoints on their list. So far, Eric has gotten to the highest point of 144 countries and Matthew has ticked 97. Eric says he sees the project as a framework for creating opportunities for really interesting adventures. “[It] kind of requires every kind of skill set you can imagine. It definitely requires high-altitude mountaineering, like K2 is on there and Everest, but it also requires jungle bushwhacking in the Caribbean or hiking through the desert in Chad. There is so much red tape you have to get through—like in West Africa there are so many police checkpoints so you have to navigate those—so many languages you have to speak, logistics to make it interesting, and the other interesting aspect is [sometimes we don’t know which] is the highest mountain, so in comes the survey equipment.” When, in 2018, the brothers determined the highest point in Saudi Arabia had actually been misunderstood all along, Eric became particularly interested in exactness and discovery, and how these elements added an interesting complexity to getting to the great heights of the world. A lot more was unknown than one might first imagine, given our information-overload culture. Not knowing if the mountain you were climbing was even the highest point in the country added a challenge that seemed to surpass even first ascenting. Yet Eric is not always flitting across to the farthest reaches of the world. As an associate teaching professor at Seattle University, he is rooted a good portion of the year, so he is constantly finding ways to feed his passion for discovery and peakbaggi... https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/2/10/guidebook-xiii-researchgrant

The UK’s top university climbers gathered at The University of Warwick last weekend for the National Universities Lead and Speed Climbing Championships (NULSCC) 2025. https://www.climber.co.uk/news/national-universities-lead-and-speed-climbing-championships/

Angels and Demons is a two-pitch M6+ WI5+ on the Outbreak Wall near Nipigon The post New Multi-Pitch Rock and Ice Route in Ontario appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/profiles/new-multi-pitch-rock-and-ice-route-in-ontario/

Originally published in Guidebook XIII If you haven’t logged some ascents on West Virginia stone, that’s a gap in your climbing resume that you should rectify immediately. You won’t regret making the trek to climb on the New’s tiered roofs and bouldery, sequency walls. The New River Gorge (NRG) is one of the few truly world-class destinations in the U.S., and a trip to visit in 2025 would be an easy way to ensure your climbing year is filled with unbelievable climbing— the kind that has you yelling, “WOW I LOVE ROCK CLIMBING” halfway up the wall. The NRG boasts miles of challenging climbing on ironclad Nuttall sandstone cliffs. Many routes overlook the stunning New River Gorge, or you can travel deep into the vibrant West Virginia forest and find hidden cliffs with stellar routes. The rock is composed of 98% quartz—some even claim it’s harder than Yosemite granite. With over 3,000 established routes, the NRG has almost every type of climbing: run-out and well-bolted, slab, overhangs, cracks, techy vertical faces, corners, arêtes, trad and sport climbing, and bouldering. Technical small holds, long reaches, big moves, and old-school bolting leave many shaking in their climbing shoes. You’ll never get bored if you love finding a sequence of moves that unlocks a climb. And you’ll never feel better than when you push through the mental challenge and pull off the move. “It’s a humbling place to climb, so you have to be willing to be humbled a lot,” said Jane Kilgour, the Community & Guest Services Manager at the AAC New River Gorge Campground. The caliber of climbs makes every fall and try-hard scream worthwhile. “[The New River Gorge] is the kind of place where people come for a week, and they end up staying for three months and then moving around their plans for the year so they can return again next season,” said Kilgour. The best advice for visiting the New: chase stars, not grades. The quality of lines and routes is why climbers can’t get enough of the NRG. As an AAC member, enjoy discounts at AAC lodging facilities and dozens of other locations in the AAC lodging network. 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.  The New River Gorge National Park is on the land of the Cherokee and Shawnee, among other tribes. We acknowledge their past, present, and future connection to the land. To learn more, visit the Sandstone Visitor Center on your trip. In the 1970s, West Virginia locals began developing the New River Gorge, focusing on what would become the Bridge Area before the NRG Bridge was completed in 1977. Classics like Chockstone (5.9), Jaws (5.9), and Tree Route (5.10) were climbed in the Bridge Buttress area and graded initially as 5.7. Locals continued to put up more routes, moving on to the Junkyard Wall. Whispers of amazing climbing at the New River Gorge spread, and the 1980s brought a new wave of climbers who pushed grades and technical difficulties in the area. Rapscallion’s Blues (5.10c), Leave It to Jesus (5.11c), and Incredarete (5.12c) were put up, and with every season, more climbing areas were discovered. In the late ‘80s, sport climbing and Lynn Hill came to the New. Eric Horst put up the first 5.13 in the New, Diamond Life, and Lynn clinched the first ascent of the Greatest Show on Earth (5.13a), setting a new standard for women in the New River Gorge. Hard sport climbing ruled the early 1990s. The late Brian McCray put up difficult lines on overhanging walls, including the first 5.14a, Proper Soul. Development plateaued in the late ‘90s, as the NPS acquired most of the climbing cliffs, and a power drill ban was enacted in 1998. Currently, the NPS accepts permit applications for new routes. In the 2010s, many 5.14s were bolted and sent, including Trebuchet (5.14b), Coal Train (5.14a), and Mono... https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/2/10/guidebook-xiii-nrg

In Summer 2024, a party of four received a grant from the Yukon 125 prize, supported by the Government of Yukon, for an expedition into the Boundary Ranges of Southern Yukon. They aimed to attempt a first ascent on one of the most striking features of the Radelet Peak Massif (aka the 'Crystal Towers'), one of the most cove... https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=779212

Tyler Thompson has completed his second 5.15a with another first repeat The post Kai Lightner’s 5.15a Gets a Second Ascent appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/kai-lightners-5-15a-gets-a-second-ascent/

This month she's ticked one 5.14d, three 5.14c's, one 5.14b, and five 5.14a's The post Sendy February for Eva Hammelmüller appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/sendy-february-for-eva-hammelmuller/

See the list of 100 iconic mountains in New Zealand below, of which Nathan Longhurst has climbed in less than a year The post U.S. Climber Does 100 New Zealand Mountains in a Year appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/u-s-climber-does-100-new-zealand-mountains-in-a-year/

Retreat (aka bail) anchors need to be strong enough for a rappel, use a minimum of gear and cordage, and be simple to rig so you can do it under potential stress. Learn the principles here. Premium Article available https://www.alpinesavvy.com/blog/alpine-retreat-anchors-part-1

In this episode, we’re sitting down with AAC member David Corvi to talk about his Live Your Dream grant experience—a beautiful day that turned into a 24 hour epic on Mt. Whitney in September of 2024. Getting off route, climbing through pockets of ice and show, and getting lost on the descent were only some of what the team experienced that day. Because there is another layer of complexity to this story, a mental load that added a unique weight to that experience. David’s trip to Whitney was also in memory of his stillborn son, Charlie. In the episode, David shares about his family’s experience with infant and child loss, how climbing and other forms of outdoor adventures have helped him process his grief and continue to parent Charlie even though he is gone, and likewise he reflects on how physical challenges, like half marathons and the Whitney trip, are a way to honor the life Charlie won’t ever get to experience. Dive into this episode to hear about your classic alpine day gone wrong, and just one way that grief and loss can be processed in the mountains. Apply to the Live Your Dream Grant (Opening March 1st, 2025) Charles Martin Corvi Fund Website How to Buy the Book: “Dear Charlie...Letters to My Son: A Father's Journey of Loss, Grief, and Remembrance” Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzalez Healthy Birthday (Stillbirth Prevention Advocates) Star Legacy Foundation Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/2/27/connect-remembering-charlie-through-an-epic-on-mt-whitney

Only one incident has been reported with no injuries, but if you bought a Vision harness back to 2018 you can get a full refund The post Harness Recall: “Immediately Stop Using It” appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/harness-recall-immediately-stop-using-it/

The west face of Sloan Peak, about 20 kilometers southwest of Glacier Peak in Washington’s North Cascades, has seen a flurry of winter climbing in the past five years. But one obvious plum remained: a direct route up the center of the face, with an intimidating crux pitch leading past steep rock to a hanging dagger. In January, Northwest climbers Justin Sackett and Michael Telstad picked that plum, climbing nearly 2,000 feet up the west face in a long day. We’re sharing Telstad’s report for AAJ 2025 here. The west face of Sloan Peak (7,835’) has been at the forefront of my mind for about as long as I’ve been winter climbing. Despite numerous attempts, the main face was unclimbed to the summit in winter until 2022, with the completion of Superalpine (IV WI3/4, Legallo-Roy). In 2023, the Merrill-Minton (a.k.a. The Sloan Slither, 1,600’, IV WI4+) climbed partway up the center of the face, then moved rightward to join Superalpine. A previous winter line on Sloan Peak, Full Moon Fever (IV AI4 R 5.8, Downey-Hinkley-Hogan, 2011), started on the west face then angled up the northern shoulder. Directly above the point where the Merrill-Minton cuts right to easier ground, a large hanging dagger is guarded by gently overhanging, compact gneiss. Known as one of the biggest unpicked plums in the North Cascades, the direct line past the dagger was going to get climbed sooner or later—it was just a question of by whom and in what style. When a perfect weather window arrived in the forecast, I convinced Justin Sackett to drive up from Portland for an attempt. Early on January 19, 2025, we stepped away from the car and into the rainforest. We reached the base of the route at first light. Following the Merrill-Minton for the first three pitches, we encountered climbing up to WI5 R—a far cry from the moderate ice reported on the first ascent. Below the dagger, we took a short break and got ready for an adventure. I’d chosen to leave the bolt kit behind. This route deserved an honest attempt on natural gear before being sieged. After traversing back and forth a few times, I chose my line to the ice and started up. The rock on this portion of the wall is highly featured but compact and fractured. Just about every seam that might take gear was packed full of frozen moss; finding decent protection was a slow, agonizing process. A steep crux near the end of the pitch held potential for a huge fall, but an improbable no-hands rest allowed me just enough of a reprieve to get good gear. Justin joined me in the sun above the dagger, and we continued up a pitch of perfect blue water ice to snow slopes. Rather than finish via the standard scramble route, we opted for an obvious corner system above us. Reminiscent of Shaken Not Stirred on the Mooses Tooth in Alaska, this narrow slot held steps of water ice broken by sections of steep snow—the ideal finish to an excellent climb. Arriving on the windless summit around 3:45 p.m., we took a short break and began our descent along the southeast shelf. After what felt like an eternity of steep downclimbing, we post-holed back to the cars, arriving a bit after 8 pm. Our direct new route is called Borrowed Time (1,900’, IV WI5 M7). In a sad footnote to the Sloan Peak story, a climber was severely injured in a long fall on the mountain about a week after the ascent reported above, apparently attempting one of the initial pitches on either this line or the Merrill-Minton route. The climber was pulled from the face in a dramatic helicopter mission—the five-minute video from Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office is a remarkable window into such rescues. We wish the climber well in his recovery. Crashhhhh! rang through the perfectly still night. To say this woke up August Franzen, Cody Winckler, and me would be a lie. How could we sleep? We were camped below the biggest objective of our lives, on our first trip to Pakistan, alone in the Yashkuk Yaz Valley aside from our two cooks and liaison officer back at base camp, surrounded by the most beautiful, terrifying, inspiring, and chaotic mountains we’d ever seen. Now, on the glacier beneath Yashkuk Sar I (6,667m), about a mile past our advanced base camp, I poked my head out the tent door to see a gargantuan avalanche roaring down the peak’s north wall, its powder cloud billowing toward us. “Should we run?” asked August. https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/2/25/the-line-from-the-cascades-to-the-karakoram

This is the message from the current CEO of Patagonia. Places noted as being threatened include Bears Ears National Monument, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the watershed of Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness The post Trump Gov Should Not Sell U.S. Public Lands appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/trump-gov-should-not-sell-u-s-public-lands/

There have been several major alpine ascents completed in Europe this winter, but this might be the most incredible The post Epic Alpine Big Wall Climb Over Seven Days appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/epic-alpine-big-wall-climb-over-seven-days/

The challenging gear route was first climbed nearly 20 years ago. The first ascensionist just dropped the original FA video on YouTube The post Sonnie Trotter Climbing The Path 5.14R appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/profiles/sonnie-trotter-climbing-the-path-5-14r/

Mirrored 5.14c/d is the newest hard route in one of North America's steepest sport crags The post Jonathan Siegrist Opens New 5.14+ appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/jonathan-siegrist-opens-new-5-14/

Less than a year after climbing her first 5.14, Veronica Chik has ticked her first V10 The post Nine-Year-Old Climbs V10 Traverse in China appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/nine-year-old-climbs-v10-traverse-in-china/

NICAS (National Indoor Climbing Award Schemes) is proud to announce a new partnership with Access Sport to create more inclusive climbing opportunities for disabled young people across the UK. https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=779143