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Climbing News from assorted publications

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  • Adam Ondra Flashes a Jimmy Webb V13

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    GrippedG
    Versace V13 is the Czech climber's latest hard bouldering first-go ascent The post Adam Ondra Flashes a Jimmy Webb V13 appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/adam-ondra-flashes-a-jimmy-webb-v13/
  • Nicolai Užnik Sending Mount Doom V17

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    GrippedG
    The sit start to Hide and Sick V14 is Austria's hardest boulder problem The post Nicolai Užnik Sending Mount Doom V17 appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/video/nicolai-uznik-sending-mount-doom-v17/
  • Will Bosi Climbing Excalibur 5.15c

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    GrippedG
    Watch the V17 climber take down one of the hardest sport routes in the world The post Will Bosi Climbing Excalibur 5.15c appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/video/will-bosi-climbing-excalibur-5-15c/
  • Guidebook XIV—Member Spotlight

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    American Alpine ClubA
    Spacewalking outside the Hubble Space Telescope, John Grunsfeld wasn’t that much closer to the stars than when he was back on the surface of Earth, but it certainly felt that way. The sensation of spacewalking, of constantly being in freefall, but orbiting Earth fast enough that it felt like weightlessness, was more of a thrill than terrifying. Looking out to the vaster universe, seeing the moon in its proximity, the giant body of the sun, stole his breath away. Grunsfeld was experiencing a sense of exploration that very few humans get to. It was deeply moving, a sensation he also got in the high glaciated ranges when he’d look around and be surrounded by crevasses and granite walls of rock and ice. Throughout his life, he couldn’t help but seek out the most inhospitable places on the planet, and even beyond. You might think that there is nothing similar between climbing and spacewalking. But when you ask John Grunsfeld, former astronaut and NASA Chief Scientist—and an AAC member since 1996—about the similarities, the connections are potent. The focus required of spacewalking and climbing is very much the same, Grunsfeld says. Just like you can’t perform at your best on the moves of a climb high above the ground without intense focus on the next move and the currents of balance in your body, so, too, suited up in the 300-pound spacesuit, with 4.3 pounds per square inch of oxygen, and 11 layers of protective cloth insulation, you still have to be careful not to bump the space shuttle, station, or telescope as you go about the work of repairing and updating such technology—the job of the mission in the first place. Outside the astronaut’s suit is a vacuum, and Grunsfeld is not shy about the stakes. “Humans survive seconds when vacuum-exposed,” he says. With such high risks, it’s a shame that the AAC rescue benefit doesn’t work in space. Not only is spacewalking, like climbing, inherently dangerous, it also requires intense focus, and it can be a lot like redpointing. Grunsfeld reflects that “it’s very highly scripted. Every task that you’re going to do is laid out long before we go to space. We practice extensively.” In Grunsfeld’s three missions to the Hubble Space Telescope, his spacewalks were a race against the clock—the battery life and limited oxygen that the suit supplied versus the many highly technical tasks he had to perform to update the Hubble instruments and repair various electronic systems. It’s about flow, focus, and execution—skills and a sequence of moves that he had practiced again and again on Earth before coming to space. Similarly, tether management is critical. Body positioning, and not getting tangled in the tether, is important in order to not break something—say, kick a radiator and cause a leak that destroys Hubble and his fellow astronauts inside. But to Grunsfeld, the risk is worth it. The Hubble Space Telescope is “the world’s most significant scientific instrument and worth billions of dollars. Thousands of people are counting on that work.” Indeed, perhaps a little more is at stake than a send or a summit. Growing up in Chicago, Grunsfeld’s mind first alighted on the world of science and adventure through the National Geographic magazines he devoured, and a school project that had an outsized effect. Grunsfeld’s peers were assigned to write a brief biography of people like George Washington and Babe Ruth. Rather than these more familiar figures, Grunsfeld was assigned to research the life of Enrico Fermi—a nuclear physicist who was instrumental in the Manhattan Project, the creator of the world’s first artificial nuclear reactor, and a lifelong mountaineer. Suddenly, science and the alpine seemed deeply intertwined. Grunsfeld started climbing as a teenager, top-roping in Devil’s Lake, back when the cutting edge of gear innovation meant climbing by wrapping the rope around your waist and tying it with a bowline. Attending a NOLS trip to the Wind River Range and further expanding on his rope and survivor skills truly cemented his love of climbing in wild spaces. Throughout the years, climbing was a steady beat in his life, a resource for joy. He would climb in Lumpy Ridge, the Sierra, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, Tahquitz, Peru, Bolivia, and many other places with his wife, Carol, his daughter, and close friends like Tom Loeff, another AAC member. If climbing was a steady beat, his fascination with space and astrophysics would be a starburst. At first, his application to become a NASA astronaut was denied, but in 1992, Grunsfeld joined the NASA Astronaut Corps. It would shape the rest of his life’s work. Between 1... https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/5/19/guidebook-xivmember-spotlight
  • The New Metolius Basic Stick Clip

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    GrippedG
    An easy-to-use lightweight option that will make your days at the crag safer and more fun The post The New Metolius Basic Stick Clip appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/profiles/the-new-metolius-basic-stick-clip/
  • Review for the New MSR Elixir 3 Tent

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    GrippedG
    A great tent for all of your backcountry adventures this summer The post Review for the New MSR Elixir 3 Tent appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/profiles/review-for-the-new-msr-elixir-3-tent/
  • Going It Alone by Vic Zeilman

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    ClimbingZineC
    At some point in my early to midtwenties, I came to the conclusion that life is not about rock climbing. There’s just too much other crazy shit happening every day on this beautiful clump of space dust. The older I get, however, the more I realize that climbing is most certainly about life. At the… https://climbingzine.com/going-alone-vic-zeilman/
  • Ethan Salvo Opens The Youngster’s Roof V15 in Squamish

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    GrippedG
    After making the long-awaited second ascent of Hunkster's Roof V14, Salvo explored a sit-start version of the problem The post Ethan Salvo Opens The Youngster’s Roof V15 in Squamish appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/ethan-salvo-opens-the-youngsters-roof-v15-in-squamish/
  • Kami Rita Sherpa Climbs Everest for Record 31st Time

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    GrippedG
    His first time on the summit of Everest was back in 1994 The post Kami Rita Sherpa Climbs Everest for Record 31st Time appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/kami-rita-sherpa-climbs-everest-for-record-31st-time/
  • Jernej Kruder Climbs 5.14d Trad in Norway

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    GrippedG
    Crown Royale in Norway is considered the hardest crack climb in the world The post Jernej Kruder Climbs 5.14d Trad in Norway appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/profiles/jernej-kruder-climbs-5-14d-trad-in-norway/
  • Village Buried by Massive Collapsed Glacier

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    GrippedG
    Authorities had issued an evacuation order in the Swiss village before the event The post Village Buried by Massive Collapsed Glacier appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/village-buried-by-massive-collapsed-glacier/
  • IFSC World Cup 2025 Salt Lake City: Boulder Results

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    UK ClimbingU
    Last weekend, the IFSC World Cup circuit landed in the home of US competition climbing, Salt Lake City, for the third boulder World Cup of the season. https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=781750
  • New 19-Pitch Big Wall Route Took 23 Days

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    GrippedG
    This is the newest big climb to be added to the granite walls on Baffin Island The post New 19-Pitch Big Wall Route Took 23 Days appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/new-19-pitch-big-wall-route-took-23-days/
  • Stefano Ghisolfi Battling Chris Sharma’s Fight or Flight 5.15b

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    GrippedG
    After sending The Full Journey, Sleeping Lion, and Neanderthal, Fight or Flight will have to wait for another season The post Stefano Ghisolfi Battling Chris Sharma’s Fight or Flight 5.15b appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/video/stefano-ghisolfi-battling-chris-sharmas-fight-or-flight-5-15b/
  • Jernej Kruder makes first repeat of Crown Royale, 9a (trad)

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    UK ClimbingU
    Jernej Kruder has made the second ascent of Pete Whittaker'sJssingfjord trad route Crown Royale, 9a. https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=781742
  • The Yosemite Big Wall Permit System: Impact and Logistics

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    American Alpine ClubA
    Yosemite's iconic granite walls draw climbers, hikers, and outdoor recreationists from all over the world. Big wall climbers spend long days on El Cap and Half Dome above the valley floor, attempting free ascents or classic aid climbs. Due to the park's growing popularity, reservations and permit systems have been implemented. Climbing is no exception.  In 2021, Yosemite NPS began a two-year big wall permit system pilot program in hopes it would help climbing rangers understand patterns on the wall and minimize negative impacts on the landscape through education. In January 2023, the permit program became permanent, and now all climbers staying overnight on big walls are required to have a permit.  As with everything in the climbing community, there has been a lot of discourse surrounding this, as seen on Reddit and Mountain Project threads over the past couple of years. Climbers speculated: Would the rangers be enforcing a quota? Would these permits be available 24/7, or would reservations need to be made in advance? Would climbers have to use the dreaded recreation.gov? Through the permit system, big wall permits are free and available for climbers to self-register 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, near the El Capitan Bridge at a kiosk near the food lockers. There is no quota for routes.  In addition to timed permits, during peak hours (6 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Memorial Day weekend, any day between June 15 and August 15, or Labor Day weekend), climbers must make reservations to enter the park. This is a timed entry reservation that is also used at other parks, such as Zion National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Arches National Park, allowing the park to regulate the influx of visitors.  There is no formal check-in with the rangers after climbing (or bailing). Yosemite climbing rangers and stewards use the information they gather from the permit system to update an Instagram account that reports on big wall traffic. The Instagram's daily posts include information for the number of people on popular climbs like Freerider/Salathe, Zodiac, and Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome.  "It is a work in progress, but we are trying to find a sustainable way to get that information out to climbers so that people can disperse from crowded routes if they want," said Yosemite Climbing Ranger Cameron King. The feedback the rangers have received on the account has been positive.   Below, we've created a guide to help you navigate your next Yosemite trip filled with all the fine print and details to minimize route finding off the wall. https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/5/27/the-yosemite-big-wall-permit-system-impact-and-logistics
  • How Wildfires in the Southeast are Impacting Climbing

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    Access FundA
    https://www.accessfund.org/latest-news/how-wildfires-in-the-southeast-are-impacting-climbing
  • Guidebook XIV—Rewind the Climb

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    American Alpine ClubA
    Before there were 8a.nu leaderboards and Mountain Project ticklists, before there were beta videos and newspaper articles for every cutting-edge ascent, there was a word-of-mouth understanding of who was setting the standard of the day. Pushing the standard of climbing at the Gunks has proven to be key in the history of climbing in the United States, and any connoisseur of climbing history will know the names of Fritz Wiessner, Hans Kraus, Jim McCarthy, John Stannard, Steve Wunsch, and John Bragg—all AAC members by the way. But what often gets overlooked in the whispers of rowdy Vulgarian parties, naked climbing antics, and strict leader qualifications that swirl around Gunks history are the distinct contributions of women to Gunks climbing. A central figure in this story is the unique character Bonnie Prudden. First, we must set the scene. Prudden was most active climbing in the Gunks in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when climbing on rock was done in sneakers with a hemp rope. Rather than boldness, a strict no-falls attitude pre-vailed, and good judgment was prized over achieving the next cutting-edge grade. Pitons and aid climbing were status quo, and without a priority on pushing the limits of the sport, the time period was considered non-competitive. While Wiessner, Kraus, Prudden, and others were climbing 5.7s (even occasionally 5.8), most climbers stuck to routes rated 5.2–5.4. Climbing in the Gunks started with Fritz Wiessner, who went on a developing tear starting in 1935. He and Hans Kraus would be the leading developers of the area until the late 1950s, collectively establishing 56 of the 58 multi-pitch climbs put up in that period. In 30 of those first ascents, Prudden played a role, and she wasn’t just tagging along. With competition on the back burner, the significance of leading was murky. Some of the climbers at the time proclaimed that there wasn’t a big difference between leading and following. However, the great tension and division that would characterize the Gunks’ history— between the Appalachian Mountain Club climbers (Appies) and the rebel Vulgarians that opposed their rules—came down to the question of regulating leading. The Appies, the dominant climbing force in the Gunks until the Vulgarians and other rabble-rousers splintered the scene in the 1960s, created a lead qualification system, determining who could lead at any given level. Alternatively, some climbers were designated as “unlimited leaders,” who didn’t need approval to lead specific routes. Although they were painted as control freaks by the Vulgarians, the truth behind why the Appie crowd was so invested in regulating leading (and minimizing the risk inherent in climbing) was because they were keenly aware of the generosity of the Smileys, the landowners who looked the other way as climbers galavanted around on the excellent stone of the Trapps and Sky Top. Bonnie Prudden was lucky enough to rise above all of the drama. As a close friend and frequent climbing partner of Hans Kraus’s (who was obviously an “unlimited leader,” being one of the first, and much-exalted, developers of the area), Prudden had frequent access to new, difficult climbs. In interviews with researcher Laura Waterman, Prudden relayed that in the early years, while climbing with her then husband, Dick Hirschland, she always led because of their significant weight difference. Later she took the lead simply because of her skill, tutored by Kraus and Wiessner. Prudden took her first leader fall on the 5.6 Madame G (Madame Grunnebaum’s Wulst) and recalls catching a fall from Kraus only four times. At the time, 5.7 and 5.8 was the very top of the scale, and Prudden was keeping up—and sometimes showing off. The story of the first ascent of Bonnie’s Roof, now free climbed at 5.9, is often held up as proof of Prudden’s talent, and rightfully so. But the gaps in the story and the fuzziness of Prudden’s memory of it might reveal more than the accomplishment itself. On that day in 1952, Prudden thought the intimidating roof “looked like the bottom of a boat jutting out from the cliff,” as she wrote in an article about the climb in Alpinist 14, published in 2005. Overhanging climbing was still a frontier to explore, but Kraus was a man on the hunt for exposure, rather than difficulty. It just so happened that the massive overlapping tiers of Bonnie’s Roof would provide both. Prudd... https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/5/14/guidebook-xivrewind-the-climb
  • Seb Bouin Climbing Wolf Kingdom 5.15c

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    GrippedG
    Tough for the grade, the Bouin first ascent is a king line in Pic Saint-Loup The post Seb Bouin Climbing Wolf Kingdom 5.15c appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/video/seb-bouin-climbing-wolf-kingdom-5-15c/
  • Wild Month of V17, 5.15 and Yosemite Climbs

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    GrippedG
    From V17 sends in a session to the first-ever flash of El Capitan in a day - here are some of the biggest sends of May The post Wild Month of V17, 5.15 and Yosemite Climbs appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/wild-month-of-v17-5-15-and-yosemite-climbs/