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  4. U.S.A. Wins North American Ice Climbing Championships in Canada

U.S.A. Wins North American Ice Climbing Championships in Canada

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  • GrippedG

    All-Women Alpine Team Climbs New Mountain Route

    General News climbing
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    GrippedG
    The 500-metre route climbs the southwest face of Gulba at 5.10 The post All-Women Alpine Team Climbs New Mountain Route appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/profiles/all-women-alpine-team-climbs-new-mountain-route/
  • GrippedG

    Climbers Succeed with New Himalayan Route on Manaslu

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    GrippedG
    This marks the first new routes up the southwest side of Manaslu since the 1970s The post Climbers Succeed with New Himalayan Route on Manaslu appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/climbers-succeed-with-new-himalayan-route-on-manaslu/
  • UK ClimbingU

    Fri Night Vid Pretty Strong - Sierra Blair

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    UK ClimbingU
    Despite receiving criticism and abuse for the way she looked and engaged with an old-fashioned climbing community on social media, Sierra Blair was making the most of her talent and motivation, breaking stereotypes, and redefining what a modern climber looks like. https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=783267
  • American Alpine ClubA

    Guidebook XIV—An Interview with Dougald MacDonald

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    American Alpine ClubA
    How would you describe the scope of the work that goes into making the American Alpine Journal (AAJ)? Dougald MacDonald: Producing the AA J is a year-round effort that involves literally hundreds of people. The actual “staff” of the AAJ (who are all part-timers and volunteers) includes more than 15 people, and each year we work with roughly 300 individual climbers and photographers to share their stories. The book goes to press in late April, so the peak of the cycle is in March and April. But the work on the following year’s edition starts immediately, plus we prepare and upload online stories all year round. AND we produce The Cutting Edge podcast and the monthly Line newsletter. What’s the history of the AAJ? How has it changed over the years? DM: The AAJ is coming up on its 100th birthday, and unsurprisingly it has changed quite a lot over the years. It started out as much more of a Club publication, telling the stories of AAC members’ adventures. In the 1950s, with the rise of Himalayan climbing, the book started to become much more international. But it was really Ad Carter—who edited the AAJ for 35 years, starting in the 1960s—who created the wide-ranging, international publication it is today. We no longer focus mostly on the activities of AAC members—though we’re very happy to tell those stories when we can—but instead try to document all significant long routes and mountain exploration anywhere in the world, by climbers from every country. For both the AAJ and Accidents in North American Climbing (ANAC), the most significant changes of the last 10 to 15 years have been 1) the introduction of color photography throughout both books and 2) the launch of the searchable online database of every AAJ and ANAC article ever published. What’s an example of a unique challenge the editors have to deal with when making the AAJ? DM: One challenge is that we come out so long after many of the climbs actually happened. So, readers may have seen something about any given climb several times, in news reports and social media posts and even video productions. But the AAJ has never been in the breaking news business. Instead, we aim to provide perspective and context. Perspective in that we don’t have any vested interest that might slant a story one way or another, and context on the history and geography that helps readers really understand the significance of a climb, how it relates to what’s been done before, and what other opportunities might be out there. Another big challenge is language barriers, since we work with people from all over the world. We’re fortunate to work in English, which so many people around the world use these days. We also use skilled translators for some stories, and online translation tools have improved dramatically in recent years. But there’s still a lot of back-and-forth with authors to ensure we’re getting everything just right. What’s an example report that was really exciting for you to edit from the last few years? DM: For me, personally, the coolest stories are the ones that teach me about an area of the world—or a moment in climbing history—that I knew nothing about before starting to work on a story. In the upcoming book, for example, we have stories about winter climbing in Greece (who knew?) and a mountain range in Venezuela that’s gorgeous and has peaks over 16,000 feet. Unfortunately, that range is rapidly losing its snow cover and its small glaciers. AAJ senior editor Lindsay Griffin, who is editing the story, did some cool climbs in the range in 1985, and the difference between his photos and those from today is shocking. Are there any big differences in process between making the AAJ and ANAC? DM: The biggest differences are just the scale and scope of the two books: The AAJ is a nearly 400-page book that tries to cover the entir... https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/5/19/guidebook-xivan-interview-with-dougald-macdonald
  • HowNOT2H

    Rescues are misunderstood

    Videos climbing hownot2
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    HowNOT2H
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvuw6yE4_d0
  • American Alpine ClubA

    Ice Climbing Competition: A Team Sport

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    American Alpine ClubA
    The intense winter sun bore down on Longmont's Ice Climbing World Cup stage in Colorado on February 22-23. For the first time since 2019, the United States hosted a UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup. The USA Ice Climbing athletes showed off figure fours and nines (similar to a figure four, but the climber wraps their leg over the same arm instead of the opposite), epic dynos into hanging hoops, and celebrated wins with views of Long's Peak in the background. The warm weather led to thin ice, and an ice pick punctured a pipe, destroying one of the speed climbing walls Saturday night during the speed finals. As a result the format was changed from duel climbing to single. USA Ice climbing athletes Sam Serra and Catalina Shirley podiumed in speed despite the challenging ice conditions. Shirley took silver in speed with a time of 13.64. Serra won his first-ever UIAA Ice climbing medal at Longmont, taking the bronze with a time of 9.07. Making the podium in speed was a "soft" goal for Serra in the Longmont World Cup. "It's just been a steady progress all season," said Serra. During the France World Cup, which was held from January 29 through February 1, Serra's left hand slipped, and he stabbed his thigh with his ice tool, needing three stitches. The past three weeks leading up to Longmont he was mainly focused on recovering in time for the competition. Thanks to the Longmont Climbing Collective building a competition wall for the World Cup, the USA Ice Climbing team has been able to train all season in Longmont. Serra ran a weekly speed training night every Monday. "I think everyone saw a lot of progress, and it's really rewarding to see that pay off, and everyone is performing super well this weekend and in the past World Cups," said Serra. Donned in glitter, Sam Castro, Joann Dyer, Jessica Perez, and Alex Rudow bring their own personal style to competing. "Glitter really makes me send hard," said Jessica Perez with a laugh. This is her third season on the USA Ice Climbing Team. She saw athletes competing in the World Cup in Denver in 2019 and dove into competition ice climbing headfirst. Although doused in the same glitter, the four athletes had different goals for their seasons. "It was my first season, so honestly, my only goal was not having a false start for speed and not stabbing myself, which I was very happy about," said Sam Castro. She achieved her goals this season. "My goal is to enjoy the process and see how far I can test and push my limits and climb with confidence," said Jessica Perez. Each athlete competes individually on the wall, but the USA Ice Climbing team is so tight-knit and supportive that it's almost a team sport. "[Ice climbing competition] is so supportive, too, and it's like such a niche sport, I think. And it's growing. It's cool to be a part of a growing community and see the youth get really into it," said Joann Dyer. Alex Rudow said, "I try to be supportive. The community is already so supportive. I have mainly competed in team sports, and this is probably my first individual sport. But despite that, you spend like nine times out of ten cheering on your teammates. It's awesome to see just how supportive everyone is." This is Rudow's first season on the ice team. In the competitive world, mindset is everything. Seasoned competitor Ryan McCauley made a big mindset change this season. She went into the season wanting to be more playful and present on the wall. "I think that in the past, I've tended to be really rigid and structured with my training. I've told myself this narrative: I just want to train really hard and get really strong, and then it can be really playful during competition season. And then I get there, and I'm like, why doesn't this feel playful? It's because I've related to it for months in a militant way," said McCauley. Her main goal for the Ouray competition was to be more present, and it paid off when she podiumed and took third place. For logistical and financial reasons, McCauley decided to focus on the three competitions in North America: Ouray, Longmont, and Edmonton. At Longmont, McCauley fell early in qualifiers. She sees it as a testament to the finickiness... https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/4/2/ice-climbing-competition-a-team-sport
  • UK ClimbingU

    Fri Night Vid 24 Hours with Alex Honnold

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    UK ClimbingU
    In this week's Friday Night Video,Magnus Midtb returns to spend another day with Alex Honnold, hoping to gain an insight into the famous solo climber. https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=776598
  • GrippedG

    Climbers Buy Land in U.S.A. to Secure Access

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    GrippedG
    Climbers can now enjoy secure access to a crag in New Hampshire The post Climbers Buy Land in U.S.A. to Secure Access appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/climbers-buy-land-in-u-s-a-to-secure-access/