Dear Kurt,  This is a letter I don’t want to write. Writing is often difficult to get started, but this one is nearly impossible because you are gone, at least in the physical.  It was in the evening of my birthday when I learned that you were presumed dead on Mt. Cook in New Zealand. … https://climbingzine.com/a-letter-to-kurt-blair-by-luke-mehall/

My college years in The Desert were adventurous and crazy, a complete immersion in the unknown. After I graduated, I began to roam from climbing area to climbing area, and The Desert seemed like just another destination on the circuit. It was in that era that the inevitable plateau began for me on that Colorado… https://climbingzine.com/powders-of-persuasion-by-luke-mehall/

A new film just dropped that features the highly accomplished climber talk about everything from projects to family The post Shauna Coxsey: Mama, V14 Climber, Olympian appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/shauna-coxsey-mama-v14-climber-olympian/

It's shaping up to be one of the best ice climbing seasons in years so start getting prepared now The post 10 Tips for New Ice Climbers Who Want to be Successful appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/profiles/10-tips-for-new-ice-climbers-who-want-to-be-successful/

In 2015, the owners of Medicine Wall took drastic measures and closed the crag to the public. They stripped all of the hardware from the wall and local climbers lost a beloved climbing resource. Learn how Access Fund and TCC opened it back up. https://www.accessfund.org/latest-news/what-does-it-take-to-reopen-a-closed-crag

Book of Hate, an iconic single-pitch route, had a bolt added to a section that's always been protected by gear The post Famous Yosemite Crack Corner Gets Bolted appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/famous-yosemite-crack-corner-gets-bolted/

We talk with Garnbret to learn more about her gold medal-winning Paris experience, climbing’s Olympic format in the future, her plans on the rock, and more The post An Interview with Janja Garnbret About Olympics and Climbing appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/profiles/an-interview-with-janja-garnbret-about-olympics-and-climbing/

Some of the best intro-to-ice routes around Banff and Canmore for the 2024/2025 ice season The post Five Fun Moderate Bow Valley Ice Climbs appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/five-fun-moderate-bow-valley-ice-climbs/

In crevasse rescue, you often build one anchor and transfer the load to it. Then (if needed) you may build a second anchor and try to equalize #1 and #2. Here are three methods to dial in this equalization. https://www.alpinesavvy.com/blog/three-ways-to-equalize-crevasse-rescue-anchors

Did the Olympics and World Cups get you stoked on plastic? This futuristic shoe that will help you take your footwork to the next level The post The Next Generation of High-Performance Indoor Shoes: The La Sportiva Ondra Comp appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/gear/the-next-generation-of-high-performance-indoor-shoes-the-la-sportiva-ondra-comp/

Japanese climbers Hidesuke Taneishi and Hiroki Yamamoto made the first ascent of the unclimbed Himalayan peak on October 31. https://www.climbing.com/news/inside-the-stunning-first-ascent-of-pholesobi-6651m/

“Driving towards Highway 285, we pass strips of red rock cutting through the foothills of Morrison in Colorado’s Front Range, chasing the promise of new climbs. In the front seat, Josh Pollock describes the Narrow Gauge Slab, a new crag he has been developing in Jefferson County. Pollock is the type of person who points out the ecology of the world around him. As the car weaves along the mid-elevation Ponderosa Pine forest, Pollock describes how we’ll see cute pin cushion cacti, black-chinned or broad-tailed hummingbirds, and Douglas-fir tussock moth caterpillars. We pull into a three-level parking lot about seven miles down the Pine Valley Ranch Road. With no cell service and heavy packs, we set off along an old railroad trail toward the crag. Not even ten minutes into our walk, Pollock turns off, and we are greeted by a Jeffco trail crew building switchbacks to the crag.” https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2024/11/20/the-guidebook-xii

Usually, when Balin Miller encounters spindrift ice climbing, he puts his head down, waits for 10 to 20 seconds, and continues climbing. Halfway up the face of the Andromeda Strain, a line on the northeast face of Mount Andromeda in Alberta, Canada, Miller and his climbing partner Adrien Costa encountered an intense spindrift funnel. Thirty seconds passed, then one minute, two. After five minutes, he thought, f*** this, and downclimbed. Miller was persistent, but the spindrift was relentless. They wasted a couple of hours try- ing to go around. https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2024/11/25/grant-spotlight

As the AAC’s General Counsel and Advocacy Director, Byron Harvison, put it, advocacy work is like “being in charge of building and maintaining an air- craft while it’s already flying in the air—and there are still no guarantees. This work requires constant attention to detail and management of hundreds of relationships.” To your aver- age climber who cares about public lands and advocating for climbing landscapes, the con- stant awareness of legislative processes and advocacy relationships can be exhausting— the runout pitch where you’d rather cede the lead. But for the AAC advocacy team and our partners like Outdoor Alliance, it’s the money pitch—our opportunity to ensure the perspec- tives of our members and other recreationists inform the policies that shape America’s public lands and recreational spaces.” https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2024/11/25/guidebook-xiiaac-advocacy

By Hannah Provost If you had to tell the story of the evolution of climbing within the history of one route, your most compelling choices might be The Nose of El Capitan or The Naked Edge in Eldorado Canyon. In this way, The Naked Edge is a time capsule containing within its memory: the much dreamed-of first ascent finally climbed by Layton Kor, Bob Culp, and Rick Horn; a period defining free ascent by Jim Erickson and Duncan Furgeson in the early 1970s; and one of the few battle- grounds for speed records in the United States. In 1962, Kor and Bob Culp were diverted attempting to aid the steep final edge, and today, climbers have speed climbed the route, bridge to bridge, in a little over 22 minutes. What is it about this climb that has allowed it to be the sketchbook for climbing legends to draw out the evolution of our sport? Anecdotes and artifacts from the American Alpine Club Library and archives provided the answer. https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2024/11/25/guidebook-xiirewind-the-climb

He climbed 11 5.13s and four 5.14s during a recent trip to Red River Gorge The post Bayes Wilder, 13, Climbs 5.14c in Kentucky appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/bayes-wilder-13-climbs-5-14c-in-kentucky/

Friends of one of the missing said authorities believe the climbers have fallen The post Climbers from U.S.A. and Canada Missing on Mount Cook appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/climbers-from-u-s-a-and-canada-missing-on-mount-cook/

I spent 40 days working on Freerider before freeing it in a 16-hour push. Here's what I wish I knew at the start of that process. https://www.climbing.com/places/five-things-i-wish-i-knew-before-climbing-el-capitan/

The wildly dynamic problem features one of the single hardest starting moves in the world The post Olympian Colin Duffy Sends Defying Gravity V15 in One Session appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/olympian-colin-duffy-sends-defying-gravity-v15-in-one-session/

Access Fund was founded in 1991 to protect America’s climbing. We’ve made so much progress on that front—from passing bills in Congress to buying threatened climbing areas to building sustainable trails—but our work is not done. In fact, it’s just as important as ever. https://www.accessfund.org/latest-news/big-news-black-diamond-is-matching-all-donations-to-protect-americas-climbing