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CONTENTS

ISSUE 325
6

FLASH

32

Improved footwork
can quickly make you a
better climber.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: CLAUDIA ZIEGLER; DEAN POTTER; DAVE N. CAMPBELL; BEN FULLERTON (2); BRETT AFFRUNTI; BEN FULLERTON; SUPERCORN; BEN FULLERTON; CEDAR WRIGHT

THE APPROACH
15

Editors Note

16

Letters

17

Archives

18

Gram vs. Gram

Our favorite climber

dogs go head to head.

20

34

37

26

38

30

Primer

Big Review

Minimalist high-country haulers for fastand-light ascents.

GUIDE

40

Ammon McNeely returns to climbing after

nearly losing his foot.

41

Advice

Tested

The latest gear obsessions from our testers.

The Kit

Must-have gadgets for

perfect crag coffee.

Epicenter

New Paltz, New York,

is the ultimate staging
area for the Gunks.

GEAR
Ounce-counting: how
light alpine packs
measure up.

THE CLIMB
24

Nutrition

Bye bye, bars! Make

these tasty, hydrating
energy bites at home.

Off the Wall

The story of a spy blimp

and a climbing gym.

Training

45

Instant Expert

CLINICS

Begin Here

Take your nut game

to the next level
with these advanced
methods.

Master friction slabs

with techniques and
tips from Hazel Findlay.

46

In Session

Being a better
belayer is a lifelong
process, and you can
start right here.

48

Coolest Trick

Use your head to

overcome anxiety
and fear to send your
project.

51

VOICES

Ask Answer Man

Whats the deal with

those zip-off pants?

52

The Wright Stuff

Pro climber Cedar

Wright writes about
heroes and Honnold.

54

Semi-Rad

Brendan Leonard discovers aid climbing.

88 THE
Cover photo by Cedar Wright: Alex Honnold on his epic free solo of El Sendero Luminoso (5.12d), El Potrero Chico, Mexico.

FLOW
CLIMBING.COM

|1

CONTENTS

56 Reese Mountain

72 Alpine Now!
Temps down low
might be heating up,
but the high country
is damn near perfect.
Climber and perpetual road-tripper
Brendan Leonard
highlights seven
routes across the
country from Maine
to Washington that
the everyman can
climb.

81 Mentorship Gap
Todays gym-born
generation of climbers can pull down
harder than ever.
But when it comes
time to transition to
climbing outdoors,
many old schoolers wished these
youngsters knew
more about the
outdoors, ethics,
and etiquettethe
intangibles once
passed down from
a mentor to a new
climber. Photographer and veteran
climber Chris Noble
explores this gap
and what we can do
about it.

ANDREW BURR

What?! Theres a
people-free sport
crag hidden in
southern Wyoming?
Affirmative! Dougald
MacDonald details
how one legendary
rst ascensionist
and his Reese Mountain Gang developed
some of the best
bolted routes in the
West but are still the
only visitors almost
20 years later.

Jules Cho takes a welcomed rest

on a bulge-covered route at Reese
Mountain, Wyoming.

ISSUE 325

LEADING SINCE 1970

Browse
areas, routes,
photos,
comments,
etc OFFLINE,
at the crag, on
the rock.

WHATS YOUR FAVORITE FOOD TO PACK TO THE CRAG? WHAT TASTES

GREAT AND GIVES YOU ALL-DAY ENERGY?
PB&J or leftover pizza! But after seeing
the recipe on p. 34, that may change.
Classic PB&J

EDITORIAL

Editor
SHANNON DAVIS
Art Director
JACQUELINE MCCAFFREY

Quinoa salad with plenty of veggies

Senior Editor
JULIE ELLISON

Peanut butter and chocolate chip

covered banana

Digital Media Specialist

KEVIN CORRIGAN
Editor at Large
DOUGALD MACDONALD
Senior Contributing
Photographer
ANDREW BURR

Peanut butter and

honey in a tortilla wrap.
Messy but great!
Sausage
McGriddle
Value Meal

Senior Contributing Editor

JEFF ACHEY
Contributing Editors
BRENDAN LEONARD, DAVE SHELDON,
ANDREW TOWER,
CEDAR WRIGHT

Gummy frogs
A mix of peanuts
and raisins

ProBars. Tastes good enough and

packs enough punch to get me
through till the end. Plus, most of
them are gluten- and dairy-free.

Download your local

areas, trip destinations,
or all 100,000+ routes.
Once downloaded, you no
longer need to be online!

Download
high-res
photos, one at
a time or for a
whole area

A guide to 100,000+
climbing routes

Contributing Illustrators
SKIP STERLING,
SUPERCORN
Staff Photographer
BEN FULLERTON
Tablet Media Specialist
CRYSTAL SAGAN
Intern
CLAIRE RICKS

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FLASH

6 | MAY 2014

Carolina Godoy
Como Un Sueo (V2)
Auyntepui, Venezuela

In late February and early

March of this year, seven people trekked 25 milesthree
days on steep terrain with
scrambling and xed linesto
get to the top of this tepui
(house of the devil in the
native Pemon language). The
plan was to hunt for boulders
and put up as many climbs
as possible in 18 days. This
particular block, the Gandalf
Boulder (so named because
the feature that comes off
the top resembles the famed
wizards hat), was right next
to the crews established

basecamp. They walked by

it everyday and saw a proud
and beautiful line up the
prominent orange streak.
Photographer Gustavo Moser
cleaned the holds and urged
fellow climber Gary Sorcher
to go for it because Moser
knew Sorcher was waiting
for an ideal rst-ever FA.
Sorcher hopped on the rock,
and it went rst go. This was
my rst FA ever, and one of
my proudest moments as a
climber and as a person, said
Sorcher. I named it Como Un
Sueo because this rig climbs
like a dream: Every move
ows into the next. It has
jugs, pinches, pockets, and an
airy, exposed mantel topout.

Following a striking orange

streak and maxing out at 22
feet, this V2 problem is no
gimme. Not only did Sorcher
call his group sandbagging
sons of bitches, but the
commitment factor makes it
quite heady. The group went
on to make several dozen rst
ascents all over the tepui.
Realistically, we only saw
about one percent of the rock
Auyntepui has to offer,
said Sorcher. With a summit
surface area of 260 square
miles, this particular mesa is
home to stone aplenty, and
the worlds highest waterfall:
3,212-foot Angel Falls.
GUSTAVO MOSER

CLIMBING.COM

|7

FLASH

Matt Segal and Will Stanhope

Tom Egan Memorial Route (5.9 A3)
Snowpatch Spire, Bugaboos, Canada

For the third consecutive summer alpine

season, pro climbers Matt Segal and
Canadian Will Stanhope will venture to
the rugged, granite-spire paradise of the
Bugaboos to try and free an old aid line, the
Tom Egan Memorial Route on the East Face
of Snowpatch Spire. The duo says it should
go at 5.14. The route was originally done by
Canadians Daryl Hatten and John Simpson
in 1978, and they named it after friend
Tom Egan, who died in Yosemite. It caught
Segal and Stanhopes attention in 2009,
but they didnt return to try in earnest until
2012. With a total of 15 pitchestwo of
those 5.14 and two 5.13this photo shows
the rst splitter nger crack, which theyve
dubbed the Blood on the Crack pitch. Segal
calls it one of the most painful nger cracks
either of us has ever experienced. And its
only the second hardest pitch. The true crux
is a bolted face pitch, which they call the
Drunken Dawn Wall, that enters another
difficult nger crack. Stanhope says a third
crux is living in the grueling Bugs backcountry for two months at a time: Weve
struggled with recovery and have resorted
to hiking up loads of creature comforts to
Applebee Camp. This includes lugging up a
double-burner propane stove to cook realfood meals, not gnarly dehydrated food,
Kokanee beers (which Stanhope calls a ne
Canadian beer), and pillows. The climbing
doesnt lend itself to a specic style, so the
pair trained by climbing as much as possible,
including a spring training camp in Zion,
where they topped out Moonlight Buttress
(5.12d), Touchstone Wall (5.13b), Shunes
Buttress (5.11+), and Sheer Lunacy (5.12b).
With about 50 days of effort under their
collective belt, the team is drawn back again
and again because, as Stanhope says, The
line is enthralling. It is beautiful and right at
our limit. All of our climbing experience has
led up to this.
ANDREW BURR

8 | MAY 2014

CLIMBING.COM

|9

FLASH

10 | MAY 2014

Klemen Becan
Water World (9a/5.14d)
Osp, Slovenia

Sometimes the approach to a

route can be as much of a crux
as the route itself, as Slovenian
pro climber Klemen Becan
found out in early 2014. He
bolted this line more than two
years ago, and it nally started
to come together in recent
months, which happened to
coincide with an extremely wet
winter in Slovenia. This cave
[Ospo] is in a unique area of
Karst [a region in Slovenia and
the name for the one-of-a-kind
shapes of stone], which means
its connected with cave systems of a much larger region,
said Becan. When we had a
lot of rain this winter, water

had to go out somewhere, and

the cave was ooded. Since
his strength and motivation
were high, Becan used both a
kayak and a Tyrolean traverse
to get to the line. He says the
crux of this 50-meter megapitch (164 feet!) are the rst
30 moves, which required a
lot of imagination to gure
out. Theres a good rest after
the opening section, which
he says makes it hard to stay
focused, and then theres still
30 meters of 8b/5.13d to get
to the top. Becan hasnt allotted for much celebration time,
however. Two weeks later, he
bolted a 150-meter line next
to Water World that he says
looks a bit easier.
LUKA FONDA

CLIMBING.COM

| 11

FLASH

Ofer Blutrich
Icarus (8a/5.13b)
Keshet Cave, Israel

Israel is a land steeped in historyits climbing, however, is

a different story. Most climbing areas were developed in
the past ve to 10 years, and
the pictured Keshet Cave was
only established in the last
year and a half. Local strongmen, like Ofer Blutrich who
has traveled to world-class
climbing areas in Spain and
Thailand, have come back to
apply what theyve learned to
their home country. Blutrich,
now 34, started climbing at
age 22 after four years in the
Israeli military (serving in the
military in Israel is mandatory for all citizens, both male
and female). Hes bolted and
climbed the rst ascent of
more than 100 routes in the
country, including lines up to
5.14b. This particular climb
is about 115 feet and takes a
direct route up the side of this
natural arch, which is a popular
tourist destination in Galilee
in northern Israel, right next
to the countrys border with
Lebanon.
CLAUDIA ZIEGLER

12 | MAY 2014

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THE

APPROACH

I got this view of the Drus after climbing a mixed

route on the Petit Aiguille Verte in Chamonix last
month. Thanks for the kickstart, Tim.

CONTRIBUTORS

DAVE N. CAMPBELL

Black Diamond employee

Dave N. Campbell has established climbing routes
the world over and spent
more than 1,000 nights
sleeping in The Spaceship, his silver Honda
Element. In this issue,
he details climber and
BASE jumper Ammon
McNeelys best advice
for maintaining stoke, no
matter the obstacle.

DOUGALD MACDONALD

Years ago, editor-at-large

Dougald
MacDonald
heard of one Dingus McGee and his pet project,
a little-known Wyoming
sport crag called Reese
Mountain. He nally
visited. Read his report
(with beta!) on page 56.
Dinguss crew warmly
welcomed us. Their pride
in this isolated, semi-secret, scruffy, wind-blasted, yet still-excellent crag
was palpable.

EDITORS NOTE

Calling All Tims

I was never meant to play football. That wiry 120-pound
frame in my high school yearbook tells that story pretty
clearly. But rock climbing? I found something there. Trouble was, growing up in Ohio, I had hardly anywhere to climb (the closest: a Treadwall an hour drive away) andmore importantprecious
few people to climb with or learn from. Then I met Tim.
Tim was a distant friend of the family whod just gotten out of the
Army. He drove a Ford Bronco with tires taller than most parking metersbut he had a rope, double rack, and a deep enthusiasm for West
Virginias Seneca Rocks. Wed make the six-hour drive every nice weekend (monster trucks are slow) just to get one long day of trad climbing in. I learned how to belay, follow, clean a route, and rappel. Then I
learned to lead and build anchors. Along the way, I also picked up a lot
about self-sufficiency, gobies, leaving a campsite better than you found
it, bad beta and good, how to deliver the latter, and more. Dude was my
hero. He helped me nd an identity and a cool community to be a part
of. In other words, he was my mentor.
As Salt Lake Citybased photographer and writer Chris Noble details in his excellent essay, The Mentorship Gap (p. 81), climbing is in
dire need of quality mentorship as more climbers than ever transition
from the gym to the crag. Read it, and take action.

HIGHLIGHTS
FROM THE
JOURNEY

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: SHANNON DAVIS; COURTESY (3); KENNAN HARVEY

BY SHANNON DAVIS

CEDAR WRIGHT

Cedar Wright, a self-proclaimed poetic genius,

is psyched to be joining
Climbing magazine as
a contributing editor.
His monthly column The
Wright Stuff will weave
mostly true, sometimes
heinous, sometimes hilarious tales of adventure, professional climbing, and dirtbag culture.

Eat more peanuts

Wear more leather

Trust your feet

Climb this

Judging from the answers to our masthead

question on page 4 (Whats your favorite crag
food?), the Climbing staff loves us some peanut butter. Makes sense, though: Its packed
with protein and potassium, and its easy to
digest. Plus, it tastes great on everything, from
bagels to bananas. Wheres my spoon?

Dean Potters dog, Whisper,

may have won our whimsical
Instagram photo challenge
(p. 18), but Gus (aka the AllTerrain Pug) made a strong
showing and taught us a little
something about crag style.

We explored the most repeated maxim in climbingits all

about your feetto deliver a
footwork training program and
a visual guide to slab climbing.
Increase your friction starting
on page 30.

Theres a four-pitch 5.7 with

your name on it (p. 79).

CLIMBING.COM

| 15

THE APPROACH
UNSOLICITED BETA

AND WERE BACK

Maybe Ill never be more than a sporadic amateur, but your magazine always makes me want to organize my gear and hit the road. The things that
people are doing all around the world are amazing, and I want to thank
you for bringing those photos and stories to my door every month. You also
put technical skills within my grasp in those handy yellow pages.
I miss seeing letters to the editor in each issue, though. They often made me laugh, made me interested and curious, and made me
think that I should write one myself. Leave it to me to wait until youve
stopped publishing them to nally get around to it.
David Lightenberg, via email
Ed. Note: Thank you, David. Hey, look! Letters are back! Keep in touch.

RIPPLES

I feel so sad for Chad Kellogg, his family, and his climbing buddies. I
used to be one of them. Chad was a ranger on Rainier back in the 1990s.
We would climb and snowboard together.
I still remember our rst descent of Success Couloir. We were
gearing up at basecamp, around 10,500 feet, when we heard a huge
rumbling. Tons of ice was falling a couple thousand feet above us. I
looked at Chad. Then there was another huge icefall. We could feel the
ground shake. Chad said, We better get after it.

16 | MAY 2014

25
S
( W YO H O E S
HIL UR
E B CL
ELA IMB
YIN ER
G
YO )
UR
IH
PA C
AV
E
K
AN NT
YT DR
HIN O
G, PPE
YE D
T!

BE
OP

TU

ER
PO

ON

E/C

AM

LM

ET

0
HE

Earth Treks gym employee at a

February 2014 AAC Climbers Gathering,
asking Chris Sharma to get off a 15-foot
boulder because he had had a beer.

Wait.

50

PH

Chris? Chris? Im sorry, but we

are asking people who have been
drinking to put on wristbands and
stop climbing.

@climbingmagazine

Save the seles for the summit.

75

Lauren McBeth, after her sister,

Robin, a novice ice climber from
Colorado, said shed just wanted to
play outside in the snow to explain
how shed gotten popped in the eye
with an ice tool, leaving a deep gash.

letters@
/climbingmagazine @climbingmag
climbing.com

100

CA

Why didnt you just build a f***ing

snowman?

125

Dennis Dingus McGee Horning.

Read the full story on page 56.

KEEP IN TOUCH

You can belay and rappel

from a Munter hitch, but
its best to learn how before
theres a problem, go to
climbing.com/munterhitch.

150

VIC

I got tired of lugging my trad rack up

here all the time, so I brought the bolt
gun a few times instead.

By making a route bold and giving it death potential (To Bolt or Not
To Bolt, February 2014), you deter a lot of the weekend-warrior gumbies who think they have something to prove. Matt Segals a stud. He
shouldnt be required to cater to the masses of self-entitled climbers,

Whats the worst thing youve ever dropped

during a climb?

DE

Legendary rock shoe designer

Heinz Mariacher, climbing with
Scarpa North Americas CEO Kim Miller in
Eldorado Canyon, Colorado. After Miller led
an awkward dihedral involving contortion
and smearing, he pulled the rope up for
Mariacher to follow. Instead, Mariacher
untied and said this as he walked away.

L AY

I will not do that to my body.

FIRST ASCENT MINDSETS

VERTICAL LINES

BE

OVERHEARD

After a successful summit, we began to descend. It was raining below in the clouds. We snowboarded as far as we could, and then downclimbed until we cliffed out. We had to put on crampons to climb back
up the steep mud and roots. Chad smiled the entire time. He liked it
when the trip didnt go as planned.
I know hes with Lara [Chads wife, who died on Mount Wake in
Alaska in 2007], and they are climbing together again. Thanks, Chad,
for all you did for me.
Luke, via Climbing.com

who think they deserve to safely ail up a 5.13+. If you want to climb Air China so
badly, climb harder and get on Matt Segals level. Future climbers need to earn this
route. Badasses only sounds fair to me.
Taylor H., via Climbing.com
Im very sad that you love risking your life. If you had splattered your brains on
Air China, it would have been a tragedy. Thank goodness your friend recognized
the danger and demanded a bolt. That may have saved your life. The idea that
safety cheapens the experience is an idea we need to part with. Certainly, there is
danger inherent in climbing, but no one would use a questionable rope. Yet many
climbers put value in sketchy gear placements and go out of their way to risk their
lives. Is that bold? Certainly. It also leads to needless injuries and worse. Climb
safe and climb tomorrow.
Aaron, via Climbing.com

NOGA

When did it become conventional wisdom that yoga enhances climbing performance? If anyone has scientic data to back it up, Id love to see it. The studies Ive
read say stretching before exercise is a waste of time, or even downright counterproductive. Unless youre doing routes that require you to drape your leg behind
your neck, skip the yoga and climb more. Yoga is good for one thinggetting better
at yoga.
Ken, via Climbing.com

JUNE/JULY 1989
ARCHIVES
Spain revealed

SOCIAL CLIMBING

Could you date a non-climber?

18%

In this issue, we reveal little-known Wyoming sport crag, Reese

Mountain (see p. 56), but back in 1989, Spain, which is now considered one of the best sport climbing destinations in the world,
was also little-known:
Despite occasional rave reviews that sneak across the French
border, Spain remains a shadowy enigma to most potential rock
tourists. Even as France was ooded last fall with record rainfalls,
skeptical climbers preferred to risk mudslides in Buoux rather
than robbery, abduction, remote cliffs, and a lack of 8bs [5.13d]
and croissants in Spain.

Hot new trend

NO

Remember that 1980s climbing shoe

craze when teenagers were wearing
climbing shoes to school, dances,
and around town? No? It never quite
caught on, but that didnt stop Reebok
from trying with the Reebok Rocker, a
rock shoe-inspired street shoe.

47%
YES

35%

Academy Award climber

On the cover, Scott Cosgrove climbs Headstone Arete (5.13b)
in Joshua Tree, California. Since then, Cosgrove has become
(presumably) the only person to both be on the cover of Climbing
and win an Academy Award. He won the Academy Award as part
of a rigging team and, more recently, a Screen Actors Guild award
for stunt work in Lone Survivor. Hes worked on everything from
The Hunger Games to Puff Daddy music videos.

MAYBE

Time-tested skills

NON-CLIMBERS, TURN MAYBE INTO YES BY:

Owning a really cool van
Enjoying alone time every weekend
while your signicant other climbs
Being very attractive

Having a family-owned cabin in

Tahoe, California
Being an independently wealthy chef
Learning to climb

*Source: Climbings annual reader survey. Watch Facebook for your chance to participate.

The oppositional nut, when combined with its counterpart,

provides a non-directional anchor, one you can weight in any
direction. And all anchors must be non-directional.

Sound advice, excerpted from Rock Climb! a new instructional

book by John Long. Somewhat ironically, we also cover oppositional nuts in this issue on page 45.

CLIMBING.COM

| 17

THE APPROACH
UNBELAY VABLE!

Scary (and true)

tales from a crag
near you
A climber warned us about a sketchy dude in
Smith Rock, Oregon. Mr. Sketch had offered
him a belay, and when he was three-quarters
up a route, he looked down and noticed something chilling. The belayer was gone. The rope
hung loosely from his harness to the ground. He
rapped down and found the sketchy dude irting
with some girls a ways down the crag. Sketch said,
What? You looked like you were doing ne!
Submitted by Jason D. Martin, via
Climbing.com

LESSON: When you allow someone to belay you, youre

literally placing your life in his hands. Only climb with people you know you can trust. For a simple test to determine
if someone is too sketchy to belay you, see page 88.

Only one end of the rope is on the ground!

Thats OK. Ill rappel on both strands until
I get to that point, then Ill nish the rappel on
one strand.
A chorus of No! Stop! saved the climber.
Submitted by Richard Bothwell,
via Climbing.com

GRAM VS. GRAM

Whos the best climber dog

on Instagram?
CLIMBING PREFERENCE

EPIC SHOT

Big walls like El Cap

Whisper hangs high above

the Yosemite fog

Paw jams in splitter cracks

Gus stands mightily in front

of his domain: the Flatirons

Whisper
@deanpotter
(OWNED BY DEAN POTTER)

Gus the AllTerrain Pug

@allterrainpug
(OWNED BY CEDAR WRIGHT)

OTHER HOBBIES

LESSON: Every time you rappel, pull your rope through the
anchors and center it. If your rope doesnt have a middle
mark, put it through the anchor, match the ends, and coil
until you nd the center. Next, tie stopper knots on each
strand so you cant rap off the end. Toss the rope and make
sure both strands reach the ground before you rap.

LESSON: So many. Foremost, always seek expert

instruction. Take a class from a gym, guide company, or
climbing school, and practice building anchors in a lowrisk environment (like your backyard). Always read the
instructions that come with your gear. Climbing gear is
very specialized and should only be used as intended.
See something unbelayvable?
Email us at unbelayvable@climbing.com.

18 | MAY 2014

Tandem wingsuit BASE jumping

Chills cragside in leather. Probably smokes

reds, too.

WINNER

I saw a guy build a toprope anchor by putting

a harness around a tree and clipping a single
oval biner to it. Then he put another harness
on a dead tree at the bottom of the cliff and
belayed his daughter from itwith a pulley. At
least he put a helmet on her.
Submitted by Ben, via Climbing.com

Whisper, for her impressive

ascents in Yosemite Valley and
daring BASE jumps. Gus had a
strong showing in the adorable
department, but its hard to compete with a canine with so many
passport stamps and ights on
her resumeeven for humans!

inreachdelorme.com

THERES A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

GOING SOLO AND GOING IT ALONE.
The worlds rst satellite communicator with built-in navigation.

Send and receive text messages

Trigger an interactive SOS
Navigate and create waypoints
Plan, track, and share your journey
100% global satellite coverage from Iridium
Contract-free and annual plan options
inReach Explorer available at all major retailers in May 2014

THE APPROACH
OFF THE WALL
BY KEVIN CORRIGAN

Secret Agent Gym

Arborist. Rigger. Fireghter. Window washer. Stuntman. Magazine
editor. There are only a few careers (and reallysome of these are a
stretch) where technical climbing skills will boost your resume. But
now you can add spy-blimp technician to that list.
Lucas Kovalcik and Tim Walsh, owners of the Gravity Vault climbing gyms in New Jersey, were recently contacted by defense contractor Northrop Grumman with a vague request.
It was supposed to be a secret, said Walsh. But they had to tell us a
little bit so we could understand how we as climbers could help them.
Here was Northrop Grummans problem: Theyd built a spy blimp,
but they had no way to reach the engines for maintenance.
They were contracted to build a $500 million spy blimp for the
army, said Kovalcik. They realized, though, that once they pulled
this blimp out of the hangar and oated it, they would have zero access to the engines and motors, by way of any scaffold on the ground.
Take that image in your mind of the Goodyear Blimp oating above a
football stadium and forget it. This blimp is the size of an entire football
eld. Its designed to oat at the edge of the atmosphere where its undetectable by radar. It was scheduled to y to the Middle East, but rst,
those engines needed some work, and they could only be accessed by rap-

pel from an anchor on top of the blimp. So the engineers and mechanics
were shipped off to the Gravity Vault for two packed days of training.
A lot of these guys had never worn a harness before, said Kovalcik.
Lets just say they werent necessarily in Army shape. Plus, some of
them had a fear of heights.
The Gravity Vault crew taught them everything they needed to
know to rappel, ascend xed lines, and arrest a rappel so they could
work hands-free. However, Walsh had concerns about the structural
integrity of the blimp itself.
If that thing is full of helium, how delicate is it? said Walsh. Would
it be like a Mylar party balloon ready to puncture at the slightest provocation? But it was explained to us that it can take several rounds
from a .50-caliber gun and continue to y for a certain amount of
time. That eased concerns. It would take more than a little friction
from a nylon rope to pop this spy in the sky.
The lessons themselves proved uneventful, which was a good thing.
The engineers and mechanics readied the blimp for its tour of duty,
and the Gravity Vault did their part to serve their country. Maybe if
theyre lucky, the army will let them borrow the thing to scope out
some new crags when the spies are done with it.

Details That Matter

What does a hiking boot company like LOWA know about climbing shoes? We dont have
any rock stars, we dont have any rst ascents, we havent given away tons of product,
but heres what we do have: 90 years of boot-making experience that, among other
things, has taken climbers to the summit of every 8000 meter peak in the world.
Our new X-BOULDER carries our legacy forward.

HANDCRAFTED IN EUROPE
To see LOWAs new line of rock shoes, visit www.lowaboots.com

2014 LOWA Boots, LLC. VIBRAM, the Octagon Logo, and the Yellow Octagon Logo and the color Canary Yellow are registered trademarks of Vibram S.p.A.

NEW X-Boulder

COURTESY OF NORTHROP GRUMMAN

Spy-blimp engineers learn to rappel at New Jersey climbing gym

OFFICIAL

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Theres nothing like a beautiful blue-sky day, high above sea level, cruising toward a summit on pristine
rock. We celebrate alpine climbs that everyone can conquer in this issue, along with offering techniques
for friction slabs, how to overcome fear, drills to improve footwork, the lifelong pursuit of becoming a
better belayer, and much more. Here, Alex Honnold takes advantage of ideal alpine temps on Knobvious
(5.10d) on East Cottage Dome, Tuolumne Meadows, California.

24

22 | MAY 2014

GUIDE // 37 GEAR // 45 CLINICS // 51 VOICES

THE

LIMB
ANDREW BURR

CLIMBING.COM

| 23

THE

CLIMB

GUIDE
Ammon McNeely and his typical ear-to-ear grin while he leads
Colorado Northeast Ridge (5.8 C2) on Kingsher Tower near
Moab, Utah. Inset: Almost losing his foot to a BASE-jumping
accident and the resulting surgeries that saved his limb left
McNeely with a gnarly scarand an even gnarlier story.

ADVICE

BY DAVE N. CAMPBELL

An Unbreakable Spirit
Ammon McNeelys unbelievably fast return from a career-ending injury
I stared up at the sandstone walls of the Kingsher Tower outside of Moab, Utah, and felt sick
with anxiety. I could faintly make out the speck
of a man on the summit and knew it was Ammon McNeely. He was up there hobbling around on his surgically repaired foot (now laced with so many scars it looked
like a relief map of canyon country). He carefully studied
the cliff edges and exposure below, in search of the best spot
to jump, but the wind was gusting, creating less-than-ideal
conditions for ying. Deep down I suspected this would not
deter him. Fuck. Maybe I shouldnt have helped him get up
there, I thought.
Ammon currently holds the most speed records and one-day ascents
of Yosemites iconic El Capitan, and hes done more than 1,000 BASE
jumps. This jaunt in the Fisher Towers wouldnt create a buzz far past
the re circle, if not for one thing: Just months ago, he suffered an accident so severe that he nearly lost his foot. In a jump not far from here
last October, Ammons parachute didnt open properly. He swung back

toward the wall and pushed off of it with his left foot. This may have
saved his life, but it resulted in a gruesome compound fracturehis
foot literally hanging by a few thin threads of skin and muscle tissue.
Ammon calmly applied a tourniquet using chute rigging and apologized to his mother (he lmed itview at climbing.com/ammon).
Doctors wanted to amputate, but after seven surgeries, two skin grafts,
and a remarkable amount of community support, he was now miraculously ready to climb again. And he asked me to join him. Ammon and
I climbed the lthy chimneys and exposed arte of Colorado Northeast
Ridge (5.8 C2), and then xed 500 feet of rope on the wall, so that he
could quickly return when the time seemed right for the jump.
As he pondered conditions, we spoke for a bit on the radios about
lulls between wind gusts and such. Then Ammon declared he was
ready. He punctuated his decision by throwing the climbing rope and
his harness off of the tower. I watched it plummet to the ground, creating a puff of smoke on impact. My mouth went dry. Within moments
he was airborne, and his parachute canopy cracked open with a bahboom! I watched as the one and only El Cap Pirate ew safely to the
desert oor. Ammon had dug deep to bring the world another speed
record: his lightning-fast recovery.

How I Made It Back

1
DAVE N. CAMPBELL (2)

SETBACKS ARENT
THE END
When I realized I might lose
my foot, I instantly thought
about people like Chad Jukes,
Sean ONeill, and Malcolm
Daly. Chad is missing his leg
just below the knee; Sean
is paralyzed from the waist
down; and Malcolm lost his
foot. I thought about the
climbing those guys continue
to do, regardless of their disabilities, and acknowledged
that I could still maintain
my adventurous spirit, even
without a limb.

As told to Dave N. Campbell

2
KEEP AN ACTIVE MIND
I buried myself in Steve
Crusher Bartletts book
Desert Towers, which my
friend Mario Richard gave
me before he passed away.
Conrad Anker mailed me his
book with a note, With a
heap of respect, your friend,
Conrad. I also watched a
lot of motivational speaking
on the Internet, such as
Nick Vujicic, who was born
without limbs but remains
super-positive. My injury
seemed insignicant compared to his struggle.

SMALL STEPS LEAD

TO BIG GAINS

CREATE INSPIRING
PROJECTS

LEARN FROM YOUR

PASSIONS

I did 20 trips up and down

a ight of stairs each day. In
the beginning, I had to use
two crutches, and then was
eventually able to walk up
and down on my own. I also
swam two hours every day.
Once the doctor said I could
weight my leg, I did a BASE
jump. I also started doing
ve-mile hikes with a forearm
crutch. After three months, I
onsighted a 5.9 on Owl Rock.
It felt like a huge leap, and
after that, I knew I was ready.

Im going to continue
combining my two passions:
climbing and BASE jumping.
I also get a lot of satisfaction out of working with
Paradox Sports adaptive
athletes. Ive climbed El
Cap a couple of times with
paraplegic Sean ONeill and
his brother Timmy. We have
plans to help Sean lead
climb on El Cap this year. Its
such an inspiration to see
guys out there charging like
that after losing so much.

The outdoors is where Im

most happy and comfortable,
and climbing has taught me
so many things about myself
and about life. The biggest is
how to overcome obstacles
and hardships, how to be
patient but also how to grab
the bull by the horns when
you need to get things done.
Theres a saying I really like:
I refuse to tip-toe through
life only to arrive safely at
death. That perfectly sums
up my attitude.

CLIMBING.COM

| 25

GUIDE

CRAGS

Epicenter: New Paltz, New York

Weve partnered with mountainproject.com to bring you the ultimate primer for life-list climbing epicenters around the
country. In our rst installment, we shine a spotlight on New Paltz and the legendary Shawangunks.

CRAG MAP
HIGH E
23 routes
THE UBERFALL
65 routes

THE ARROW WALL

38 routes

DOUGS ROOF
16 problems

THE MAC WALL

28 routes

PEBBLES BOULDERS
4 problems

KEYHOLE
CLIFF AREA
13 problems

JACKIE & FRIENDS

27 routes

TRAPPS BOULDERING
107 problems

87
HIGH FALLS

209

FROGS HEAD

32

ACCORD
34 routes

KERHONKSON

KAMA SUTRA AREA

4 problems

44 209

8
44

WAWARSING PARKING55LOT BOULDERS

17 problems

44

BEGINNING OF
CLIFF TO GELSA
28 routes
Witchs Hole
State Forest

GELSA TO MOE
21 routes

New Paltz

87

New
York
State
Thruw
ay

THE NEAR
TRAPPS
118 routes

17

Minnewaska
State Park

THE TRAPPS
371 routes

MOE TO HARVEST MOON

36 routes

208
32

44

55

HARVEST MOON TO THE END

33 routes

55
44

32
87

Awosting Reserve

TRAD

TOPROPE

BOULDERING

NOT
NAMELESS AREA: 3 problems; THE YELLOW WALL: 32 routes; BOXCAR AREA: 14 problems; PETERSKILL: 142 routes; SLEEPY HOLLOW: 22 routes;
PICTURED: STRICTLY SHOCKLEYS: 19 routes; THE GUIDES WALL: 29 routes; V3-MIDDLE EARTH: 36 routes; SLIME WALL: 18 routes

THE SCENE

The Gunks (short for Shawangunks) is one of Americas

premier climbing areas. Its
just minutes from New Paltz,
a funky college town of
13,000, and 85 miles from New
York City, making it a popular
spot on weekends. The rock
is solid quartz conglomerate

with horizontal, rather than

vertical, cracks. Climbing
here is characterized by airy
roofs, big jugs, traverses, and
sometimes sporty pro. Its
famous for stellar one- to
three-pitch climbs of all levels
of difculty, including some
of the best moderate trad in

the country (sorry, no sport

climbs). Its also notorious for
stiff ratings. Drop down a few
grades for your rst lead to
get a feel for the rock, the
ratings, and to learn how to
place pro in the horizontal
cracks. September and October are the prime climbing

months (cool, low humidity),

though it can be good in
spring and summer as well.
Most of the Gunks is part of
the Mohonk Preserve, a land
trust dedicated to preserving
and protecting the northern
Shawangunk Ridge. ($17 entry
fee, mohonkpreserve.org)
POWERED BY

26 | MAY 2014

ANDREW BURR

Trad Central!

Photography: John Glassberg

The Womens
Essential Tank
Check out the Marmot
Momentum Collection at
marmot.com/momentum

Athlete: Paige Claassen

Location: Ultimate Power, 5.12d Waterval Boven, South Africa

marmot.com

WHEN SELECTING
A TENT

GUIDE

CRAGS

CHOOSE WISELY

jannu
Very strong, remarkably lightweight, and
highly versatile all season, 2-person tent
in our red label line.

Brian Kim makes his way up

The Winter Direct (5.10+).

ROUTES

Denitive Gunks Classics

The 10 best 4-star routes as ranked by Mountain
Project users

Limelight (5.7)
The Trapps, 2 pitches (180 feet)
One of my favorite leads of all time!
The second pitch roof traverse is the
highlight.
Christoph Hass/www.rockandsnow.de

or over 40 years, Hilleberg has been making the highest quality tents available. Conceived and developed
in northern Sweden, Hilleberg tents offer the ideal balance
of low weight, strength, and comfort. Order our catalog for
more information!

Order a FREE catalog online at

HILLEBERG.COM
or call toll free 1-866-848-8368
follow us on facebook.com/HillebergTheTentmaker

Something Interesting (5.7+)

The Trapps, 2 pitches (200 feet)
This route, a right-leaning nger crack
to a bulge with a large reach, was
reminiscent of some 5.9+/5.10- routes
in other areas. In any case, this climb is
incredible. Do this route!
Son of Easy O (5.8)
The Trapps, 2 pitches (170 feet)
This is the best 5.8 I have ever
climbed. The upper roof is interesting, but never so hard that you cant
pause and look around to admire your
surroundings. And what amazing surroundings they are.
Bonnies Roof (5.9)
The Trapps, 2 pitches (250 feet)
In 1937, Bonnie Prudden shattered her
pelvis in a skiing accident. A doctor
told her, You will always limp. No
more skiing, climbing, or dancing. And
no children. Fifteen years later, she

made the historic rst ascent of Bonnies Roof, after the legendary Hans
Kraus backed down and handed her
the sharp end.

CCK Direct (5.9 PG13)

The Trapps, 2 pitches (240 feet)
Perhaps the best 5.9 in the Gunks.
The rst move/traverse off the ledge
is the physical and psychological crux.
If you blow it, it would be a nasty
pendulum. The rest has excellent gear,
and its easier than it looks.
Ridicullissima (5.10c PG13)
The Trapps, 1 pitch (180 feet)
Easily the best non-roof hard route.
The rock is stellar, the moves are challenging, and the gear is plentiful.
Fat City Direct (5.10d PG13)
The Near Trapps, 1 pitch (150 feet)
The crux, while barely earning the
grade, is tenuous until you reach the
nger-jugs. Then its cruiser.
The Yellow Wall (5.11c PG13)
The Trapps, 2 pitches (125 feet)
One of the best climbs I have ever
done, regardless of grade or area. The
pro seemed adequate, and the crux
required total commitment. Its a
special feeling to try hard in such an
exposed and dramatic position.
Suppers Ready (5.12-)
The Trapps, 1 pitch (150 feet)
I felt like a fat kid chasing the ice
cream truck after doing this multitiered roof!

ANDREW BURR

High Exposure (5.6)

The Trapps, 2 pitches (250 feet)
It can be intimidating pulling through
the crux from under the roof to the
side wall. Thats Gunks 5.6! This climb
has bomber hands all the way up the
third pitch, great gear, and enough air
to keep you talking, smiling, and bragging about it forever.

Epicenter: New Paltz, NY

GEAR BETA

LOCALS KNOW

Brad Heller feels the

exposure on Tripleissima
(5.11- R), The Trapps.

What you need

to pack

Where climbers:
[stay]
The American Alpine Club is building a 50-site
campground (expected to open in fall 2014) a
short walk from the Mohonk Visitor Center (close
to The Trapps and Near Trapps) replete with a
bathhouse and indoor space to wait out rainy
days. Until then, Camp Slime is the closest. Turn
left on the dirt road just before the steel bridge
on Highway 44/55 to claim a spot, and then park
in the West Trapps parking lot. First come, rst
served. Want a roof? Reserve a room at the New
Paltz Hostel (newpaltzhostel.com).

Standard Gunks rack:

Set of micro-nuts (often useful for 5.10

and above)
Set of wired nuts (No. 3 to No. 13 Black
Diamond Stoppers or equivalent)
Pink, red, and brown Tricams (some
climbers double up on the red)
Blue, green, yellow, gray, and red Aliens
(or equivalent)
.75, 1, 2, and 3 Camalots
(or equivalent)
10 to 12 extendable runners
(24 sewn slings)
One or two long runners
(48 sewn slings)
One Yates Screamer

[eat]
Bacchus Restaurant Bar & Billiards has nearly
500 beers on the menu, so it may take you a
while to choose. Have the Bacchus Chili while
you consider your options. Stay for live music.
(bacchusnewpaltz.com, 845-255-8636)
For sandwiches and small supplies, hit Bistro
Mountain Store (845-255-2999). Its the closest
place to get food near The Trapps. For real
groceries, drive into New Paltz.

The amount of gear you carry will depend on

the climb, as well as your experience, ability, and
familiarity with the route and with the Gunks.
If youre new to the Gunks, err on the side of
more, especially cams in the .5 to 2 range.

[gear up]
Dick Williams (who literally wrote the guidebook on Gunks climbing) founded Rock and
Snow, one of the premier specialty climbing
and outdoor gear shops in the country. Check
in when you get to town. (rockandsnow.com,
845-255-1311)

Bring two-way radios for communicating

past the big roofs on many Gunks climbs.

Most routes can be climbed and rappelled
with a single 60-meter rope. Double ropes
can be handy, however, for the traverses,
wandering pro, and roofs. Theyre also nice
for descending in fewer rappels.

[learn the ropes]

Take a class (from beginner to expert) or hire
a guide from the Eastern Mountain Sports
Climbing School. Bonus: It shares a building
with Bistro Mountain Store. (emsoutdoors
.com/new-paltz-gunks, 810-310-4504)

Many popular routes have bolted rap

stations, but sometimes trees are used for
rap anchors. Bring some webbing in case you
need to beef up a sling anchor on a tree.

GUNKS METRICS
QUALITY

STYLE

DIFFICULTY

300+ routes score 3 stars or higher

Mostly trad, some toprope

Variety in the moderate grades

225

4 stars

Toprope
20.6%

3 stars

200
175
150
125

2 stars

100

200

300

400

POWERED BY

* Get route beta, photos, and topos at mountainproject.com/gunks

or
le
s
V2 s
-3
V4
V6 5
V8 7
-9

100

or

25

V1

Bomb

75
50

le
ss
5.7
5.8
5.9
5.1
0
5.1
1
5.1
2
5.1
3

Trad
79.4%

5.6

ANDREW BURR

1 star

CLIMBING.COM

| 29

GUIDE

INSTANT EXPERT

Slabtastic!

Master runout and hold-free friction slabs with this comprehensive playbook
BY JULIE ELLISON

IN AN ODD WAY, friction slabs are like wide cracks: Hate em all you want, but you cant climb
some of the most classic trad routes without working through them. Its common to nd slab
sections leading into and out of perfect cracks in places like Yosemite and Lumpy Ridge, Colorado. Theyre characterized by a low angle (between roughly 65 and 80) and a dearth of holds
(think: micro- divots, bumps, edges, dishes, and nubbins ). Theres nothing to pull down on, so
you must employ a set of techniques unique to these features (or lack thereof).

Breathe deeply. Move deliberately

and continuously.

Dont pull down. Keep arms

soft, elbows slightly bent,
ngers out to the sides, and
thumbs up, using your digits
to press against the rock.

Dont get fancy.

Reaching way up,
high-steps, mantels,
and crimping those
barely there holds
pulls your body
into the rock and
reduces the weight
on your feet.

Believe in your feet.

Trust your foot and
put more weight on it.
This will make invisible
holds usable.

Smear. With heels down and toes bending upward,

paste the balls of your feet and as much rubber on
the rock as possible. Dont edgethis decreases the
amount of rubber on rock, thereby reducing grip.

Biggest Dangersand How to Avoid Them

Legs are the only things moving
you up, so theyll pump out just
like your arms do. Sink your heels
way down to rest. This stretches
overworked muscles and increases rubber-rock contact. If a
single hold is good, switch your
feet and rest each in turn.

LIMITED PRO
Welcome to runout country:

30 | MAY 2014

No cracks or ssures means you

wont get gear in, and bolts are
usually well-spaced. Prepare
mentally and place solid gear
whenever you can. If theres a
traverse, place pro to catch your
direction of fall (see p. 45).

HEINOUS FALLS
This is where the term cheese
grating comes from. If you do
fall, maintain your body position

and slide down with your feet

still touching the rock. Gently pat
the wall every few seconds to
stay upright, but dont let your
hands slide down the rock.

LOSING MOMENTUM
One secret is just to keep moving. This prevents getting stuck in
a position that feels impossible
to move from, and it keeps your
mind calm and focused.

POSITIVE SELF-TALK
Before climbing, I tell myself that Im good at
slab climbing and that I most likely wont fall.
I follow that with saying that Im quite experienced at falling down slabs, so should I take
a big fall, I will be OK. Once I start climbing, I
often tell myself that my shoes work and that
my feet wont slip. I say over and over in my
mind: It will stick. It will stick.
DONT THINK, JUST MOVE
I try really hard not to overthink what Im
doing. One of the best things about slab
climbing is the uidity of the movement;
success is usually found from being relaxed
and simply climbing instead of over-analyzing
every move. If you get stuck in a particular
position, youll have to get out of it at some
point. Embrace this, decide what to do, and
move with condence into the next position.
Dont doubt yourself or second-guess.
SHOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Two important things are body position (the
foot is weighted in the right direction) and condence (the foot is weighted enough). If you
believe your foot will stick, then it most likely
will. The opposite is also true. Probably the
most important thing when slab climbing are
the rock shoes you wear and how they t. (Flat,
exible, and comfortable shoes are best.)
GAIN CONFIDENCE THROUGH EXPERIENCE
If you arent an experienced slab climber and
the route is dangerousdont even try it.
Gain experience on safer territory; it might
still be a bit scary, but at least youll be safe.
Condence is an integral part of slab climbing, and if you dont have any, then youre in
trouble. Gain condence through experience,
and youll start to love slab climbing.

BEN FULLERTON (LEFT); SKIP STERLING

Butt out! This puts your

weight over your feet,
which increases pressure
(and thus friction) on the
rock. This will make you
feel more secure.

PUMPED CALVES

GET PSYCHED
ON
SLABS
with Hazel Findlay

GUIDE

TRAINING
BY DAVE SHELDON

Fantastic Feet
7 simple gym drills to improve footwork and overall technique

YOUVE SURELY HEARD THIS ONCE (if not a

thousand times) before: Climbing is all about your
feet. However, when a fellow climber recites that
adage, its generally not followed with a detailed
explanation about how and why your feet are
important, so it can be confusing and frustrating and maybe
not mean much at all in the end. So listen up, as thats about to

GUIDELINES

2-3x/week
<15
minutes
3:1 foot to
hand moves
boulder or
toprope

WHY?

Footwork is typically the last

skill addressed when climbers
try to progress. This bias is
not surprising since emphasis
is almost always put on upper
body strength, but learning
to optimally place and weight
your feet reduces strain on
your forearms and puts your
body in a position to efciently reach the next set of
handholds. Plus, the muscles
in your legs are larger and
have more stamina than your
arms, so the more propulsion you can get out of those
stems, the better. The net
result is climbing that feels
anywhere from a little to a
whole lot easier.

change. Two people who know a few things about improving

footwork are 5.14 climbers, brothers, and training experts Mike
and Mark Anderson, who together authored The Rock Climbers
Training Manual. Theyve compiled a list of guidelines and drills
that will help you improve your footwork and become a better
climber overall. Soon youll be spreading the adage, toobut
with the knowledge and experience to back it up.

WHEN?

Do these on toprope or
bouldering close to the
ground, so you can focus on
the movement instead of
worrying about falling. Set
aside dedicated practice time
two or three times a week;
you can easily incorporate the
exercises into a 20- or 30-minute warm-up. Pay attention to
how your body feels (sensory
feedback) while performing
the drills, and practice them
frequently. Your new skills
wont become part of your
on-the-rock repertoire unless
they are natural and familiar.
You can accelerate this by
attempting these drills on
increasingly difcult terrain.

HOW?

Wear tight-tting, high-

performance shoes. Strap

on your redpoint kicks when
redening what you can effectively stand on and move
off of. Your mileage gym
shoes will be too sloppy and
loose to get the desired result
and practice.
Keep your feet low and
move them frequently.
Most gym routes encourage
large movements between
footholds. And while highstepping or a wide stem may
help you send the blue route,
these techniques have much
less value on real rock. When
practicing, work to make
small, frequent foot place-

ments. Specically, try making

three foot placements for
every hand move. Dont be
surprised if you have to add
intermediate feet that arent
part of the designated route.
Climbing in this style will train
you to keep your body close
to the wall and your weight,
well, on your feet.
Focus on feet and body,
not hands. Its easy to get xated on hand sequences and
simply put your feet on the
biggest holds you can nd.
The gym offers an excellent
place to experiment with how
utilizing different foothold
locations will drastically affect
body position, which in turn,
affects the use of handholds.

FOOTHOLD HANDBOOK

Pocket
Place pointed toe precisely in the

opening
Press down with forefoot
Raise heel slightly to engage calf

32 | MAY 2014

Flat Wall
Smear like on a slab (p. 30)
Drop heel as far as possible to
maximize contact
Bend toes upward to engage
forefoot

Small Edge
Focus on the most positive section
Keep ankle at about 90
Wrap toes around hold

Sloper
Drop heel to maximize contact
Push toes and forefoot down
Stay up high on hold

SUPERCORN (4)

How to get the best purchase on common gym holds

Weight footholds correctly. There is more to good

footwork than just putting
your piggies exactly where
you want them. Once your
feet are in position, concentrate on wrapping your toes
over the hold while weighting
your foot in a way that maximizes friction between hold
and rubber. This requires a
large amount of core strength
and body awareness.

DRILLS

Precision Feet
GOAL: Toe accuracy
When boulder traversing
or toproping, pick the best
spot of every foothold you
encounter and move your
foot onto this exact location
with great precision like a
bulls-eye. Do not take your
eyes off the foothold until
your foot is perfectly placed.
Move quicker as your skill
level increases.

Foot Stab
GOAL: Improve coordination
Wear your shoes, stand
in front of the wall, and
balance on one leg. Reach
out and accurately touch
pre-selected foothold
targets with your raised foot.
For increased difculty, pick
targets that require tricky
reaches and challenge your
balance.
Blinking
GOAL: Evaluate foot placement by feel
Pick out a foothold and move
your foot toward its exact
location. Before your foot
makes contact, close your
eyes and nish locating the
hold using spatial awareness. Keep your eyes closed
until you have your foot
securely placed. Evaluate your
performance rst through
feel, and then open your eyes
to conrm. Pick out the next
hold and continue.

Jibs Only
GOAL: Simulate real rock
and utilize bad holds
Only allow yourself to use
tiny screw-on foothold jibs,
small divots, waves molded
into the body of handholds,
and natural features on the
surface of the wall.
Downclimbing
GOAL: Focus on lower
extremities
Many people develop tunnel
vision and focus only on what
is directly above them and in
reach of their hands. When
stuck in this pattern, the hips,
legs, and feet are easy to
forget. Practice downclimbing and let your feet lead the
way as you shift your body to
most effectively weight and
utilize your feet.
Glue Feet
GOAL: Increase holding
power and prevent slips
Imagine that your toes

become frozen to the hold as

soon as you place a foot; you
cant change the relationship
between foot and holdno
pivoting, tilting, or repositioning. Simply ex at the ankle
when moving past the hold.
Learn to establish and feel a
wide contact area between
your foot and the hold, and
then work to maintain this
maximum contact while the
rest of your body moves.
Observe
GOAL: Learn from others
Watch advanced climbers on
the exact route or boulder
problem you just climbed.
When in witness mode,
analyze how they move and
use their feet. Also, note
which footholds they use
and consider why. Another
option is to watch World Cup
competition climbing videos
to glean footwork nuances
that you can later apply to
your own climbing.

MIKE AND MARK

ANDERSON
Mike has climbed 5.14 and
done free free ascents of
grade V and VI big walls in
Yosemite and Zion. Mark
has put up several 5.14 rst
ascents throughout Colorado and works as a climbing coach. Together they
designed the Rock Prodigy
Training Center, a unique
hangboard system, and authored The Rock Climbers
Training Manual (rockclimberstrainingmanual.com).

CLIMBING.COM

| 33

GUIDE

NUTRITION

Hydrating
Energy Bites
Fuel up with portable chocolate and sea salt snacks
MANY GELS, blocks, and bars require up to 20 ounces of water for digestion;
thats why some of them hit your gut like a brick. Thats the genius behind
real-food snacks (aka unprocessed, additive-free, and homemade from basic
ingredients)these rice-based Bitter Chocolate and Sea Salt Sticky Bites
have a lot of water content already, so they require you to drink less. The
increased water helps your body digest them easily and absorb the nutrients
quickly. Youll recover faster after a difcult climb, or stay powered up during
a long route. But lets get to the bottom line: The taste of sweet chocolate
and savory salt is unbeatable when youre tired, which can encourage you to
eat more and stay fueled when you otherwise might not feel hungry (think:
working hard on a sport route or chugging along at high elevation). The mix of
simple and complex carbs from the sugar and oats, respectively, will provide
both immediate and lasting energy, and the salt and chocolate will be so irresistibly tasty that you wont run the risk of not eating enough and underfueling. Bonus: The plastic-wrap packaging makes them easy to stash in a pocket.
Ingredients

1 cup uncooked sticky rice

cup uncooked rolled oats

2 cups water

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoons bittersweet
chocolate (chips or shaved)

Top with:

FILL UP!
Dash of sea salt

Directions
Combine oats, rice, and water with a dash of salt in a rice

cooker and cook. If you dont have a rice cooker, cook them
separately according to package directions. Let this melange
cool to the touch before continuing.
In a medium bowl, combine the cooked rice and oats with
the remaining ingredients.
Stir to incorporate the avor throughout the sticky mixture.
Press into an airtight storage container or shape as individual
bites. Sprinkle with chocolate and salt. (Be careful not to add
too much salt here.)
Store
Press the sticky mixture into a shallow, airtight container and
top with plastic wrap. (Tip: Wrap as tightly as possible to prolong life.) Simply cut and package bites as you need them.

34 | MAY 2014

2 tablespoons shaved
bittersweet chocolate

teaspoon sea salt

Wrap
Place a heaping tablespoon (one serving) of the sticky mixture
on a small piece of plastic wrap. Press into a shape like an ice
cube or small tube. Roll plastic wrap lengthwise, and then twist
the ends like a hard-candy wrapper.

Republished with
permission of
VeloPress from the
book Feed Zone
Portables ($25, skratchlabs.com). Try
more recipes at
feedzonecookbook.com.

Gluten alert: Oats do not contain gluten, but they are often
processed in plants where other wheat products are made.
Nutrition Facts
per serving (1 heaping tablespoon)
Energy 101 cal
Fat 1g
Sodium 197mg
Carbs 20g

Fiber 1g
Protein 2g
Water 64%

BEN FULLERTON

teaspoon vanilla extract

advertisement

Never been done.

Doesnt mean it
cant be done.
We live in a world where firsts are rare.
Where most routes are already set, and
most boots fall in the footsteps that others
have already taken.
Mostbut not all.

16-year-old
climber Matt
Moniz is taking
on a new
high-altitude
adventure.

TRIPLE 8 EXPEDITION

In May 2014, a three-man teamincluding 16-year-old former

National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Matt Moniz; his father
Mike, who summited both Mount Everest and Lhotse within 24
hours in 2012; and veteran climber Jim Walkleywill undertake
an adventure that will end with two firsts. The trio will attempt to
summit three of the six tallest 8,000-meter peaks in the world:
Cho Oyu, Mt. Everest and Lhotse, all within a total of 15 days. And
theyll cap off that accomplishment with the first-ever ski descent
of the Lhotse Couloir.

April 4 through May 28

THE LIST
Cho Oyu (26,906 ft.) ascent, from Tibet side
Helicopter ride to Namche Bazaar, Nepal
18-mile run/hike to Mount Everest Base Camp
Mount Everest (29,035 ft.) ascent;
descending the South Col Traverse
Lhotse (27,280 ft.) ascent; ski descent of Lhotse Couloir

This is the Triple 8 Expedition. We at Zamberlan are proud to

partner with this groundbreaking teamand proud of the new
8,000-meter climbing boot thats the result of our partnership.
Its a next generation boot that sets the route for next-generation
adventure: It fits better, and is more functionally in tune with what
todays alpinists, adventurers, and record-setters need and expect.
Learn more about the Triple 8 Expedition at climb7.com, and learn more
about the new Zamberlan 8000-meter boot at zamberlan.com

CELEBRATING 85 YEARS OF ITALIAN CRAFTSMANSHIP

The Zamberlan family is celebrating its 85th anniversary with the
introduction of our next-generation alpine collection. We are proud to be
a part of the Triple 8 Expedition and the feats of alpinists the world over.
Quality-Performance-Unrivaled Fit, Discover the Difference,
discover Zamberlan.

www.Zamberlan.com

THE

PRIMER

CLIMB

GEAR

Alpine
Packs
The weight of a pack
and its comfort have
traditionally had an inverse relationship: Fewer
ounces in a simple design meant less comfort,
while teched-out models
were easier to carry, but
added mucho poundage. However, a new
crop of alpine-specic
backpacks on the market
have slimmed-down
suspension systems
that still boast comfort
under heavy loads. Some
packs, like the Arcteryx
Alpha FL 45 seen here,
weigh less than individual items youll pack
inside. Find out how
the Alpha FLs weight
compares and then see
our top ve new-school
alpine packs.

5 issues of Climbing
23.6 ounces

Nos. 2, 3, and 4 Black Diamond

Camalots
22.8 ounces

One monstrous peanut butter

and jelly sandwich
26.6 ounces

BEN FULLERTON

Trango Raptor with pick weights

21.3 ounces

Salewa Firetail Evo GTX

24 ounces
Arcteryx Alpha FL 45
23 ounces

GEAR

BIG REVIEW
BY JULIE ELLISON

Alpine-Ready Haulers

5 minimalist packs that are light on weight but heavy on comfort

Pack

Going light and fast in

the volatile abovetreeline environment
is all about carrying
everything you need
for the changing conditions and nothing
you dont. Minimizing weight is a prime
directive. Designers
have taken that to
heart with a new
breed of packs for
climbers who are carrying a specic set of
gear for miles in the
alpine. By cutting out
extraneous padding,
pockets, and removing the lid in some
cases, weights are low
without sacricing
practical eld use,
durability, and ease of
carry. Testers thrashed
a dozen packs in the
Rockies, the Northeast, Canada, and the
Alps to nd these ve
winners. Each is t for
the high country and
its many assailants,
whether its scraping
against granite in the
Bugaboos or rime ice
in Patagonia.

Arcteryx Alpha FL 45

Patagonia Ascensionist 45L

$239; 1 lb., 7 oz.; arcteryx.com

$179; 2 lbs., 4 oz.; patagonia.com

Performance

What more could I ask for? our backcountry

ice climbing tester asked. Enough room for all
my layers, dedicated spots for my sharps, easy to
carry, and a weight that even Kate Moss would
be jealous of; its the perfect alpine pack. The
lidless Alpha FL is one large compartment with a
small outer sundries pocket. The main structure
carries about 32 liters (a sleeve extends upward
to hold a maximum of 45 liters). Loved the
option to carry small or large because once I put
on all my layers, the pack doesnt feel or handle
like a deated balloon, said a Colorado tester.
High-density foam in the backpanel provides
some support without adding weight, and a
webbing-only waistbelt funnels the load to your
hips, but caused some pressure points over multiple layers. However, testers were able to avoid
this by positioning it correctly and evening out
clothing underneath, calling this haulers overall
feel surprisingly comfortable for the weight.
Everyone loved the mega-burly N400-AC2 outer
fabric that stood up to accidental crampon steps
and rough-and-tumble treatment.

With years of feedback from alpine climbers, Patagonia re-enters the technical pack market with
the Ascensionist series, which includes 25L, 35L,
and 45L versions. Brilliantly functional was a
common remark from our testers. Every part of
the pack was thought through down to the last
detailfrom the at, precipitation-shedding lid
to the customizable suspension system that can
be shifted based on your load, said one tester,
who took it on multiple winter trips into Rocky
Mountain National Park. The removable mesh
and aluminum frame provided more support
and suspension than any other pack in the test,
and the waistbelt and shoulder straps had ample
padding for sustained comfort with loads up to
35 pounds. For days when your loads are lighter
or for the weight-obsessed, you can remove the
frame and waistbelt to save 10 ounces; youre
still left with foam that provides cushion and
support. Testers loved the ingenious top, too: It
forms a at, angled surface when cinched down
to easily slough off precipitation, like when one
tester got caught in surprise graupel and sleet.

Conclusion

Ounce-counters will fall in love with this pack,

which is lighter than a single mountaineering boot,
with enough space for subzero-temp gear and a
relatively comfortable suspension system.

With the sturdiest and most comfortable suspension system in the test, the Ascensionist also
gives you the option to go ultra-light, and it has
all the attachments for pons and picks.

Featherweight

Comfort King

Bottom Line

#GEARCLOSET
Tom Kletzker (@tomkletzker)
shows us how to build a ridiculously easy gear-organization
system that keeps everything
accessible and off the oor.
38 | MAY 2014

1. Use 1 x 2 wood and Liquid Nails to frame

the outside of the pegboard. If the pegboard
is larger than 3 x 3, include some inner framing
for support. 2. Put screws through the front of
the pegboard and then the frame so theyre
evenly spaced. Attach at least a few of these
screws to studs in the wall, and the rest to
the drywall. 3. Use pegboard hooks to start
organizing your gear.

BASICS OF BURL

Fabrics are lighter and more durable than ever thanks to advancements across the board in textile manufacturing, but
what exactly makes them so strong might seem like a mystery. In practical use, we refer to denier to denote the strength and durability of a fabric: A higher
number means more of both. In reality, that measurement stands for the weight in grams of 9,000 meters of a particular yarn. So a 210-denier fabric means that
9,000 meters of a single strand of yarn in that fabric weighs 210 grams. These specs are mostly used to rate synthetic bers, but theyre based off of a single strand
of natural silk, which is designated as one denier. Nylon, the main material used in most packs and tons of other outdoor gear, is strong on its own because of the
chemical bonds used to create it, but ripstop nylon (developed during World War II) is a fortied version thats even stronger. This type of fabric is resistant to
tearing and ripping because thicker threads are woven into the fabric in a regular pattern, which makes the surface look like a square grid and adds strength
without adding much weight.

Cilo Gear Alpine 40B WorkSack

Vaude Minimalist 35

Millet Prolighter 38 + 10

$239; 3 lbs., 8 oz.; cilogear.com

$115; 1 lb., 13 oz.; libertymountainclimbing.com

$170; 2 lbs., 13 oz.; milletusa.com

Dont let that weight scare you: The name of

the game here is customization. It comes with
building blocks to put together your ideal pack,
including extra straps and removable everything.
All included (except extra straps), the pack
weighs in at three pounds, eight ounces. Remove
the hipbelt (5 oz.), lid (6 oz.), and framesheet and
pad (1 lb.) to get down to a scrawny one pound,
13 ounces. With multiple attachment points on
the body, testers were able to add straps in a
unique conguration for optimal compression
when carrying light loads and for maximizing
load transfer when carrying heavy loads. A genius
internal compression strap positioned low on the
inside cinched down and stabilized the weightiest loads. I could move the outer straps around
based on the weight and volume of my pack that
day, one tester said. This resulted in a perfect
carry every time. This was also due in part to the
two-piece suspension system made of a stiff but
moldable HDPE framesheet (with aluminum support rod) and a foldable foam pad that doubles
as a small bivy pad.

At 35 liters, this pack is on the small side for

big days in the alpine, but our Northeast tester
found it had just enough space for rack, rope
under the lid, layers, rst aid kit, headlamp, and
ice tools secured outside. After a ski-in approach
to climb ice in the Adirondacks of New York, he
said, I was surprised how much I could load it
downup to 35 poundswithout an uncomfortable carry. The seemingly simple foam and
mesh waistbelt supported almost all of the
weight with no problems. The waistbelt is also
removable, so testers didnt have to wrestle with
a harness underneath. A full polyester body
stood up to rock abrasion and several weeks of
regular abuse, and heavier siliconized polyester
on the bottom and side panels kept high-wear
areas ding-free. The V-Flex suspension system
puts padding in contact with your back in a
V-shape: More contact where you need more
support and less contact up high for added
breathability and freedom of movement. Its
clearly designed for technical climbing; I could
move freely with no pressure on my spine.

Pack carefully, go light, and you can do it all with

this pack, one tester said who dragged it on
rock, snow, and ice outings in Colorado. This is
an alpine-thinking carrier. Thats because it looks
stripped down without extra pockets and gadgets, but the included ice tool attachments, haul
points, and ski straps are beely reinforced and
serve their individual functions well. Thirty-eight
liters gave testers enough space for super-cold
day outings in Rocky Mountain National Park,
but the option to expand the unit to 48 liters
of space meant testers could stretch its use to
overnight expeditions. The lid and the hipbelt
are removable, too. Even if Ive got a double
rack, personal climbing gear, layers, food, water,
and the rope because my partner is lazy, the
stiff suspension keeps it comfortable for tons of
miles, one tester said. New X-Lighter construction puts dense EVA foam and lightweight
berglass in an X-shape against your back, so you
have stiffness and support across the torso but
a solid amount of airow for breathability. This
pack hugged my body without restricting it.

If you want endless options for weight, strap conguration, and what you can carry in or outside of
the pack, then this alpine weekend WorkSack is
right for you. The various Dyneema, nylon, and
Cordura materials were the burliest in our test.

A leaders bullet pack on steroids. True fastand-light climbers will dig the weight, size, and
simplistic design of the Minimalist. If you like
your packs to be what you see is what you get,
then this is for you.

Multi-sport mountaineers will love this haulers

basic but perfectly dialed design, especially if
they want the option to stay overnight and dont
mind a few more ounces.

Smart Options
ONE-MINUTE HISTORY

Cams
19711975: Ray Jardine begins
ddling with spring-loaded
camming-device designs for
his personal use. He tests
prototypes by secretly carry-

ing them from crag to crag in

a blue nylon bag that clinked
and rattled, according to
Wild Country founder Mark
Vallance. 1974: Jardine carries
a set (four 2.5 and three
3.5) to Yosemite and climbs
a few dozen hard routes
with them, including cut-

Simply Light
ting the previous three-day
speed record on the Nose
in half. 1975: Jardine remains
tight-lipped about the invention and swears climbing
partners to secrecy before
theyre allowed to see inside
the blue bag. Chris Walker
inadvertently comes up with

Most Versatile
the name when he wants to
ask if Jardine has the goods
without giving it away, saying,
Have you got the bag of
Friends, Ray? 1977: Vallance
and Jardine begin working
together to get Friends manufactured, but high cost and
a complicated design make

it difcult. 1978: Vallance

goes all in by mortgaging his
house (again) and borrowing
as much money as he can get
his hands on. With that commitment, Vallance founds
Wild Country with the goal
of giving Friends international
distribution.

CLIMBING.COM

| 39

GEAR

TESTED

THE KIT

Field Notes

The latest and greatest from our diligent testers

BY JULIE ELLISON
sleek for hauling. Oh yeah,
and the price is super-nice.
$129; metoliusclimbing.com

Smart synthetic
midlayer

Simplistic durability
METOLIUS
FREERIDER PACK
Haulbag meets daypack
is how testers described
the burly Freerider, with
proprietary Durathane outer
material on a crag-friendly
41-liter package. It has the
aesthetic of a hauler, with a
beefed-up and comfortable
suspension system consisting of a stify padded foam
backpanel, plus ergonomically
shaped shoulder straps and
waistbelt. This carries just
as well as my most techedout pack, even with loads
up to about 35 pounds, our
photographer tester said of
carrying multiple camera bodies, lenses, jugging gear, and
a static line to a shoot. One
large compartment keeps
the majority of your gear in
the pack, with compression
straps on the side to stabilize
smaller loads, and a strap on
top gives you the option to
carry a rope up there as well.
Testers favorite feature was
a top lid that had an access
zipper on the inside and the
outside, so you can get to
your essential gear whether
the pack is open or closed.
External haul loops and a
long, tubular shape without
too many extras to get caught
keeps the pack clean and

40 | MAY 2014

THE NORTH FACE

DNP HOODIE
For a warm, slim-tting
midlayer that breathes and
stretches in all the right
places, look no further. Sixty
grams of PrimaLoft One insulation keep you toasty even
when wet, but the woven
side panels on the torso and
undersides of the arms allow
air and moisture to exit from
high-heat zones. I reach for
this whenever its going to be
chilly but I need maximum
freedom of movement, said
one tester, who carried this
on a late-fall ascent of the
East Buttress (5.10b) of El
Capitan, Yosemite, California.
Plus, it takes up almost no
room in my pack and weighs
less than 11 ounces [mens medium]. Perhaps most impressive was the jackets durability;
it survived chimney and widecrack thrutching around Moab
for a full week thanks to the
15-denier nylon ripstop with
DWR coating. For a quiver-ofone, wear-anywhere midlayer,
this is the answer.
$180; thenorthface.com

Carry-everywhere
rope tarp
TRANGO CORD TRAPPER
Dedicated rope bags can be
cumbersome to carry fully
loaded for long distances,
and it seems silly to stuff an
empty rope bag into your
pack while your cord rides
nicely on top. This tarp is ideal
if youve ever found yourself
in such a predicament. The
wallet-friendly and simple
Cord Trapper is a durable 4
x 5 nylon tarp, with buckles
on the outside so you can
roll it up and secure it like a
rope bag, and with green and
red tie-off loops so you can
quickly and easily nd the top
of the rope pile. Our testers
loved the ridiculously light
9.5-ounce weight, and the
minimal space it required in a
larger pack: about the size of
a long-sleeve T-shirt.
$16; trango.com

Comfy do-it-all
womens harness
MISTY MOUNTAIN
SILHOUETTE
With this ladies-specic rig, it
seems like harness designers nally understand that
female climbers dont want
to feel like they have a boa

constrictor wrapped around

their torso and legs, squeezing the life out of them.
Instead, the Silhouette has an
ultra-wide waistbelt (about
four inches in the middle
of the back) that creates a
large contact zone with the
torso and disperses pressure.
That fuller width extends
to the front as well; where
most harnesses get really
skinny and uncomfortable,
the Silhouette stays wide for
maximized comfort. The adjustable leg loops follow the
same protocol, with more
width in the entire contact
zone. I use this as my quiver
of one because its easy to
wear during both hanging belays and repeated big whips
in the gym, one multi-discipline tester said. Plus, the
increased contact is offset by
the airy and breathable inner
mesh material, so I didnt
sweat out when the temps
rose in Colorado.
$100; mistymountain.com

Most breathable shell

ARCTERYX ALPHA
SV JACKET
The Alpha SV has the newest
Gore-Tex Pro technology,
which claims 28 percent more

breathability than previous iterations, and our testers were

blown away on ice climbing
trips to Chamonix, France, and
Hyalite Canyon, Montana. Of
10 other shells Ive tested that
claim increased breathability,
this is the one that I sweated
the least in, one tester said.
I kept it on for high-intensity
approaches, full days of ice
climbing through warm spring
temps, frosty mid-winter
temps, and then downhill
descents, and it was ideal for
every scenario. Testers also
lauded the perfect alpine
climbing t that was trim
throughout the torso, with
extra room in the shoulders
and arms for swinging tools
and pulling down on rock.
High chest pockets, large pit
zips, and a fully adjustable
and helmet-compatible hood
make this a climbers dream
piece. Only ding: the Rick
Ross price point. But with the
burliest of burly N80p-X face
fabric, you might have the
Alpha SV forever.
$650; arcteryx.com

Crag
Coffee

Enjoy a perfect brew with

these 6 essentials
BY JULIE ELLISON

MSR REACTOR 1.0L

WITH FRENCH PRESS
Integrated stove systems
are the way to go if youre
just boiling water, and with
this delightfully easy French
press adapter, just add water
and ground coffee to get a
coffee houseworthy brew.
In less than eight minutes
(boil time for one liter is 3.5
minutes, allow water to sit
in grounds for four minutes),
youll have a hot cup of joe
to give you the morning x.
This all-in-one setup weighs
in at a mere 16.6 ounces
(add eight ounces for the
medium canister). Tip: As
with all French presses, use
a coarse grind to get a fuller,
more avorful brew.
$190 (stove and 1L pot), $20
(press); msrgear.com

BEN FULLERTON

STARBUCKS VIA
If youve ever scoffed at
instant coffee or the Starbucks mega-chain, its time
to give both another chance.
This actually tastes like real
coffee. No gadgets, brewing,
or steeping necessary, just
add hot water and go. The
best feature for climbers is
that these little packets are
miniscule in size and weight.
We could quickly judge

about one minute to put

together, add grounds/
water, stir, and press. Clearly
marked lines make it easy to
add just the right amount
of water, and an included
scoop ensures you get the
precise amount of grounds,
too. The overall package is
sleek and compact as well,
with a weight of 8.5 ounces.
$32 (includes tote bag);
aerobie.com

4
how many packets to grab
instead of bringing too much
pre-ground coffee oreven
worsetoo little. Instructions say to mix each with
eight ounces, but we found
the best brew by adding
about six ounces per packet.
Plus, there are tons of different choices: avors, caffeine
level, iced/hot, or latte.
$8 (8 packets of French roast);
starbucks.com

BONFIRE COFFEE
Jeff Hollenbaugh, a climber
for 25 years, runs Bonre
Coffee (formerly Deant
Bean Roaster) in the mountain town of Carbondale,
Colorado. (Rie, anyone?)
What started as a typical
climber coffee addiction
turned into a home-roasting
obsession that eventually
led to Hollenbaugh roasting professionally. He says,

Climbers are inherently

coffee ends it seems, so
my connection to the climbing world made our coffees
an easy sell to the climbing
community. And Bonre
sponsors the popular climbing podcast the Enormocast
(enormocast.com). We loved
the Blend X, a medium-dark
roast with just the right
amount of acidity.
$12$16; bonrecoffee.com

GSI OUTDOORS JAVAMILL

If you absolutely must have
your coffee fresh-ground
but dont want to carry the
weight of a grinder, this light
but burly gadget is for you.
Ceramic hand grinders are a
must-have for java elitists,
and the JavaMill ts the bill
perfectly without the weight
and sizeable price tag of

other models. Fine-tune the

grounds for various presses,
lters, and machines, and
do it anywherenear a
power source or not. The
unit weighs 9.3 ounces, and
the handle nests against the
body so it ts in the outer
mesh pocket on your pack.
$30; gsioutdoors.com

AEROBIE AEROPRESS
Espresso lovers take note:
Not only is this unique
setup super-quick, but the
brew that comes out is bold
and dense, which gives you
options. Add a bit of hot
water for an Americano or
add milk for a latte. Theres
no steeping time like with
a French press, and it takes

SNOW PEAK KANPAI

BOTTLE 500
Right off the bat this travel
mug elicited oohs and aahs
from our caffeine-obsessed
staff members, but it really
won us over when we realized we could also slide a
bottle of beer in it to keep it
protected and cold (nothing
to do with coffee, true, but
an important detail). The
Kanpai comes with three
tops: a cold lid with freezable gel pack, a thermal lid
that keeps liquids hot for six
hours, and a drinking lid that
provides easy sippin while
insulating. The smaller 350
has all the same features and
ts a 12-ounce can.
$80; snowpeak.com

CLIMBING.COM

| 41

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P R O M OT I O N

THE BETA 411 from our climbing partners

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CLIMB

CLINICS

NUTS 102
By Jeff Achey

g. 1

g. 2

TAKE YOUR PASSIVE PRO

PRACTICES TO THE NEXT
LEVEL WITH THESE TRICKS
If youre well-versed in nut usage
and passed Nuts 101 (climbing
.com/skill/nuts-101) with ying
colors, then these intermediate skills
are perfect for you. First, a quick review. Nuts are passive protection devices, meaning their holding power
comes from their wedge shapes,
cleverly placed in natural slots and
constrictions (as opposed to cams,
which actively expand under load to
grip the rock). In 101, you learned
the ve principles of placing nuts:
Ensure good rock quality; pay attention to direction of pull; seek out
good constrictions; make sure the
nut has adequate surface contact;
and, once you make the placement,
set it with a gentle tug.
Got it? Of course you do. The
principles are simple, but mastering them is a never-ending process.
Recognizing subtle constrictions
in natural rock takes a trained eye,
and maximizing surface contact is
an art learned through experience.
Nevertheless, here are a few more
tricks and tips that will help you up
your nut game.

SUPERCORN (2)

MIX BRANDS
Every companys nuts are slightly
different in size, taper, curve, and
the relationship between the wide
and narrow sides. Getting a secure
wedgeespecially in small and nearparallel placementsis often a game
of millimeters. Carrying nuts in a mix
of brands will give you a nice range of
the in-between sizes.

DOUBLE UP
Nuts are inherently less secure than
cams, meaning they can and do

fall out. Nothing feels worse than

cruising past a well-protected crux,
only to notice with alarm that your
bomber nut came out and youre 15
feet above your last piece. Hedge
your bets by placing two (or more)
nuts to protect a crux. This type
of pro is lightweight, so you can
carry more with little burden. Put
them to use! Likewise, if you cant
nd a single solid placement in a
are, consider placing two nuts in
the same slot. Place a small one
nestled in the back and a larger one
wedged closer to the surface. The
wire of the larger nut will help keep
the smaller, deeper nut securely in
place (g. 1).
When placed in horizontal
cracks, nuts will usually resist a
sideways pull from one direction,
but they can be vulnerable from the
other side. You can use long slings
to create elaborate opposition
setups like you see in textbooks, but
its often possible to simply place
complementary nuts side by side in
the same crack, close enough to be
clipped with the same biner (g. 2).
This system is quick, simple, and
avoids adding an element, like a
sling, to the chain.

the exact nut youll need next. Dont

wait until youre hanging on for dear
life to use this information!
If you usually carry your nuts on
two biners, spread them out onto
three or fourve nuts max to a
binerso you can get to the right
size quickly. Always use biners with
notchless noses for snag-free nut
dispensing. Take the whole biner
off your gear loop, slot the nut you
need, return the nuts biner to your
loop, and clip the placed nut with
a quickdraw. For very strenuous
sections, you can single-rack a preselected assortment of nuts on their
own individual biners or quickdraws. Grab the right size, slam it
in, and clip. This tactic has saved
many an onsight.

SHAPE MATTERS
A curved nut ts differently with
the curve facing right versus facing
left, so try both. If a slot is plagued
by obstructions or a partial are, a
nut placed sideways (that is, broad
side facing out) may wedge in the
sweet spot. Tapered or offset nuts
are great for pin scars and ares,
but dont overlook opportunities
to place them backward, with the
wide side deeper in the crack.

ANTICIPATE
More often than not, the protection
challenge is not about tinkering
or trick gear. Its about getting the
right nut off your rack, in the rock,
and clipped before you pump out.
Thats the kind of nutting skill thats
most likely to improve your climbing. Here are a few tips to get pro
in the rock fast. Eye the protection
possibilities ahead and adjust your
rack accordingly. If its a nger crack
or wider, cams will usually go in
faster. Get the right sizes up front.
For thinner cracks, optimize your
nuts. Sometimes a crack will have
slots so obvious that you can guess

TRICK
GEAR
* For headpointing projects on
Englands gritstone and elsewhere,
climbers sometimes file down aluminum or brass nuts to get just the
right shape for a finicky placement.
Rap down with a selection of nuts,
a medium-toothed file, and a small
plywood workbench fitted with
slings for hanging.
* For a horizontal crack across the
top of a thin flake, dont use nuts.
Try hand-placing a medium or long
knifeblade piton. Seek a placement
that sets to the hilt but doesnt
wobble, preferably in a wider spot
to keep the pin from rotating.
* Hooks can provide pro on crackless faces where nothing else will
work. They work on incut pockets
and edges; the main problem with
hooks is keeping them from falling
off before you do. Duct tape or
tensioned sling systems can be used
to secure delicate placements.

CLIMBING.COM

| 45

CLINICS

IN SESSION

BE A BETTER BELAYER
By Julie Ellison

GIVE A SAFER AND SOFTER CATCH WITH THESE TECHNIQUES

Climbers are constantly trying to increase their strength and improve climbing technique, while belaying the leader is often viewed as a stagnant skill:
Once you know how to feed out rope, take in slack, and catch a fall, youre done. False. All climbers should strive to rene their belaying practices
throughout their climbing career, which means learning and practicing the subtleties that make a truly great belayer. Weve talked to guides, longtime climbers,
and even a physicist about how to give the best catch possible in a variety of situations, and weve compiled all that information here. Dial in these methods every
time you go to the gym or the crag, and your top-notch belay services will mean youll never have trouble nding a partner again.

Before the
climb

During the
climb

Wear closed-toe shoes to protect

your feet if youre being pulled up
through obstacles, jumping into the
air, and deecting off the wall.

Smaller belayers should consider using an assisted-braking device and

standing really close to the base of the wall, near the rst clip. This will help
catch a fall and minimize the distance the heavier climber falls, which also
minimizes the distance the climber has to yard up to get back on the route.
Since lighter belayers will get pulled into the wall naturally, be aware of the
lowest pieces of protection. Weve heard horror stories of broken ngers as a
result of being catapulted into the rst draw.

Belay gloves will give you increased control of the rope (including better grip on skinny cords), as
well as protect your hands from rope
burns and anything that might get
stuck in the rope as it drags across
the ground toward your brake hand.
(Think: A cactus needle stabbed one
belayer in the hand and resulted in
him dropping the rope completely.)
Check your belay stance by making
sure you have a clear path between
you and the cliff (in case you get
pulled into it), and be aware of loose
rocks as you shift your position by
stepping forward or backward. Tripping in this situation can pull your
climber right off the wall.
This is more of a belaying basic,
but it cant be stated enough: Always
double-check your belay setup and
the climbers tie-in knot before he
leaves the ground.

46 |

MAY 2014

Communication between climber

and belayer is key. For more info
on this, check out Climbing No.
323 Know the Ropes (climbing.
com/2014knowtheropes).
If you are a lighter belayer, dont
anchor yourself to anything on the
ground. That would result in a hard
catch on the climber and a violent
jerk for you. If the climber is signicantly heavier than you and long falls
are possible, consider nding another
belayer.
Golden rule of belaying: Belay others as youd like to be belayed. Focus
on your leader, dont get distracted,
and pay attention.
Talk through how to belay a route
beforehand. Maybe there are slab
sections, roofs, near-groundfall clips,
etc.; it helps to agree on how each
section should be belayed so both
partners are on the same page.
If youre heavier than your climber,
know how to give a dynamic belay
(see page at right).

Whenever youre not feeding slack, be prepared with your brake hand in a
locked position. The climber might be tired, off-route, out of sequence, scared,
or even just evaluating a loose hold. If the climber isnt climbing, he might be
falling, and even when he is climbing, he might be about to fall!
Exercise situational awareness; know where your climber is and what he
might hit if he takes a fall. He might need a bit more slack to clear a roof and
fall into space, or he might need less to avoid hitting a ledge.
Keep tabs on the rope: the location of the midpoint (will you still be able to
lower the climber?), where the end is, the amount of stretch you expect, that
the coil is feeding smoothly to you, there are no knots in the rope, etc.
Its your job to alert the climber if his leg gets between the rock and the rope
(this can cause him to get ipped upside down in a fall and hit his head). If you
see this happen, alert the climber by yelling up to him: Joe, watch your leg! or
Joe, watch the rope!
Its also your job to alert the climber if he has Z-clipped (clipped the rope
from below a lower piece into a higher piece) or back-clipped (instead of the
leaders rope running up through the draw and away from the wall, the rope
runs up through the draw and out between the biner and the wall. If you didnt

Dynamic Belaying
ADAM SCHEER
As a Ph.D. physicist and an avid
rock climber, Adam has studied the
physics of climbing and belaying
for climbinghouse.com. Based in
Californias Bay Area, he is currently
researching the fundamental
chemistry of new biofuels.

When the leader starts to fall, our rst instinct is to lock down the rope quick
and hard, minimizing the overall distance the climber will fall. This can cause a
leader to slam hard into the wall, resulting in snapped ankles, jarred spines, and
serious head injury if the climber falls upside down. A way to mitigate this is to
aim for giving a soft catch by dynamic belaying, which eases the climber into
the wall and greatly reduces the chance of injury. Keep in mind that a dynamic
belay isnt always appropriate and its an expert technique, so make sure the
answers to the following questions are yes before you employ this method.
Is the path of the fall free from
ledges, slabby sections, or other
obstacles (including the ground) that
the climber would hit if she takes a
longer fall? If these are present, give
a catch that will land the climber
in a spot that avoids these hazards
altogether.

already know what these things are, consider taking a basic lead-belay course.)
Yell up to him to correct his mistake.
When the climber is low to the ground, youll want less rope out to keep him
from hitting the deck. As he moves up, you can keep a bit more slack in the
system so he has ample rope to pull up and clip.

Is the belayer a similar weight

to the climber or heavier? A
lighter belayer will get pulled up in
the air when the heavier climber
takes a fall, and that unintentional
movement by the belayer will naturally result in a soft catch.

Anticipate clips and be super-active with the rope, whether hes clipping
below his waist or way above his head. Youll need to quickly feed out slack
to avoid short-roping him (meaning you stop the rope from feeding through,
which is not only annoying for the climber, but could cause him to fall at an
inopportune time), but if he cant make the clip or drops the rope suddenly,
youll want to quickly reel in slack to avoid a huge fall.
On the very start of a climb, the belayer might need to stand off to the side of
the climber so he doesnt land on your head if he falls. The belayer also might
need to help the climber step over the rope by moving in closer to the wall or
repositioning the rope.
Encourage and reassure your climber as much as you can. He might need
that extra push to get through a hard or scary move. Simple words like, You
got it! or Keep ghting, Joe! might go further than you think.
An assisted-braking device might not lock up completely if your climber is
very light, if the climber sits back on the rope (instead of falling), or if theres a
lot of rope dragmore reasons to always have a hand on the brake side.
Before the climber makes the rst clip or places his rst piece, spot him
by standing slightly behind and having your hands up, ready to guide his fall
safely to the ground.

SKIP STERLING (LEFT)

If the climber takes a fall higher on the route, you can assist him in getting
back up by sitting back and putting all your weight on the rope while he pulls
the rope down toward you. Time it right so youre weighting the rope while hes
pulling himself up, and then quickly pull slack through your device. Repeat this
process until hes back to where he wants to be. Same goes for boinking: Make
sure the rope is fully weighted when hes pulling up.
To avoid aches and pains while belaying, shift your weight between feet,
take a step to the side to slightly change your stance, move your neck and eyes
as much as possible, and stay loose. To prevent and treat the dreaded belayers
neck, check out climbing.com/skill/belayers-neck.
When lowering on a sport climb, step forward so youre practically leaning
against the rock directly under the rst bolt. Lowering the climber while standing away from the rst bolt puts a tremendous amount of outward force on a
bolt that is primarily designed for a downward force. Plus, this bolt sees more
traffic and impact than almost any other bolt on the climb.

Fall Factor = Amount of rope in system

Are you on a trad line with

marginal gear? A soft catch
will reduce the force on the piece
catching a fall, which could mean the
difference between a safe catch and
pulling gear.

THE PROCESS

DONT

We talked to physicist and climber

Adam Scheer to see how a dynamic
belay works. The belayer jumps as
the climber begins to weight the
rope. Because the belayer introduces
upward momentum from the jump,
it momentarily takes less work to
continue pulling him upward, in
essence reducing his weight from
the standpoint of the climber. This
lengthens the time over which the
catch takes place, thus softening
the catch. The belayer needs to stay
light on his feet and be prepared
to get pulled into the wall quickly.
Keep knees and feet soft for low impact. Timing the jump is a mix between art, science, and practice, but
you want to be moving upward just
as the climber starts to put downward force on the rope. Falls happen
quickly, so if the climber isnt very
high above his last piece, the belayer
can usually plan to jump as soon as
the climber comes off. If the climber
is 10 feet or more (spicy!) above his
last piece, the belayer can wait a
split second before jumping.

* Dont feed out extra slack. This

results in a harder catch because it
increases the fall factor. If a climber
takes a 10-foot fall with 20 feet of
rope in the system, the fall factor is
0.5. If the belayer includes an extra
ve feet of slack (15-foot fall, 25
feet of rope in the system), the fall
factor increases to 0.6, resulting in
a harder catch (increased maximum
force). Only give extra slack to make
sure the climber clears an obstacle.
* Dont mistime your jump. If the
belayer jumps too early, his center
of gravity will actually be on the way
down when the climber is reaching the
point of maximum force. The belayer
acts as a counterweight, and if he is
traveling downward, his momentum
will be counteracted by the falling
climber, causing a harder catch.
* Dont run toward the wall,
which will not soften a catch when
the rst piece is high (20 feet or
more). This is dictated by trigonometry. (Scheer says, Trust me, Ive
done the math. For more info on
this, visit climbinghouse.com.)

Length of fall

CLIMBING.COM

| 47

CLINICS

COOLEST TRICK

BRAIN POWER
By Don McGrath and Jeff Elison

FOCUS ON YOUR MENTAL GAME TO BREAK THROUGH PLATEAUS AND SEND CHALLENGING CLIMBS
Think back to the last time you got on your project. Why did you fall off? Were you so pumped you couldnt hold on? Were you scared to fall so you
just sat back on the rope instead? Or were you so anxious about your redpoint attempt that you didnt even get on it? If the second and third situations
sound familiar, youre not alone. Years of personal climbing experience, countless climber surveys, and psychological research all point to mental strength as the
most inuential factor in whether a climber succeeds or not. Your body might be strong and willing, but if you dont have an equally strong and willing mind, your
body has nothing to guide it. The good news is that you can train your brain just like you train your body. Weve developed a mental training plan that outlines the
knowledge and skills youll need to improve your head game and thus, your overall climbing performance.

How we learn
Any skilled behavior is learned.
Therefore, we will rst describe some
of the science behind learning. Neural ring is responsible for the three
domains of psychology: thinking,
feeling, and doing. No neural ring
and you are without thoughts, feelings, or emotions. You are dead. In
fact, it takes many, many neurons r-

ing in particular patterns to produce

the end results that we observe as
thoughts and feelings. Understanding a bit about how this system works
will help your mental training.
Hebbs Law states that when
Neuron A res, causing Neuron B to
re, changes occur in the neurons that
make this ring sequence more likely

in the future. Some people describe

Hebbs Law as: Neurons that re together, wire together. What this means
for climbing is that repetition, practice,
and drills improve performance by
changing neural connections.
Rehearsing something until it
becomes automatic is called overlearning. Think about memorizing beta.

Why did that redpoint crux feel so easy

after rehearsing it a hundred times?
Rehearsal made you quick and efficient
at perceiving the holds, grabbing them
exactly the right way, and moving
smoothly between them. Because you
overlearned the sequence, you could
reliably produce it under pressure, and
you experienced less anxiety.

Visualization and
beta maps
Weve all seen climbers outside and
at competitions standing below their
route or boulder problem, hands in
the air, miming movement while
staring intently at the line. This is
an excellent technique when youre
at the base, but a more practical
and powerful tool that allows you to
overlearn beta on a climb without
being there is a beta map. This is
an illustration of the key holds and
moves on a project climb, including
clips, cruxes, and any troublesome
spots. While youre at the climb or
looking at an overall image of it,
draw the map to the nest detail,
making sure to call out key features,
moves, and holds. Use this reference
to visualize and rehearse each move
and hold over and over, just as you
would study for an exam. Practice
makes perfect, so do it as much as
you can: lying in bed before you fall
asleep, riding the bus on the way to
work, or whenever you have some
free time. See an example of a beta
map in g. 1.

48 |

MAY 2014

g. 1

This is an excerpt from the book Vertical Mind: Psychological Approaches for Optimal Rock Climbing by Don
McGrath, Ph.D., and Jeff Elison, Ph.D., which is available
now at verticalmindbook.com. The authors go deep into
the latest research in psychology and explain how it can
help you retrain your mind and body for higher levels
of climbing performance. Drawing on psychological
research, surveys of climbers, interviews, and more than
50 years of combined climbing experience, the authors
explain not only how to improve your mental game, but
also the theory behind why it works.

Importance of scripts
Human brains have evolved to perceive patternswhatever makes a certain situation similar to previous situations. Generally, this is a very positive mechanism because it allows us to react speedily without much (if any) thought. These sequences of perceptions/thoughts/feelings/actions are what cognitive psychologists call scripts. They may be as mundane as your morning routine, or they may be as important as your way of interacting with loved ones or responding
in emergency situations. Scripts are typically automatic, quick, and efficient. As such, we usually carry them out in a similar way every time. They require little
conscious effort, allowing us to conserve valuable resources: attention, consciousness, and working memory, which are intimately linked and very limited. On
average, a human adult can hold about ve to nine items in working memory, which becomes the bottleneck in our thought process. One of our greatest adaptations as humans is the ability to learn, to practice, and to turn intensive tasks that would usually take up the entirety of our working memory into automatic,
scripted tasks. In other words, instead of having to think through each move and hold of a crux (wasting valuable time and energy), your body would automatically perform the moves without any active thinking.

Think

n
Se

PRACTICE
Do drills in a safe
environment.

Pla

PERFORM
Solidify new
habits in
application.

PLAN
Analyze your climbing
and identify areas to
work on.

Rewrite
scripts to
improve
climbing
You currently have a set of scripts
that affect your climbing. Everyones
scripts are different, but many need
to be rewritten in order to get better.
Luckily there are only three simple
steps required: Plan, Practice, Perform. A different way to say it thats
geared toward climbers is: Think,
Play, Send!

Think

Play

Send

In this phase, analyze your climbing

for areas where you can improve. Selfexamine and gather input from others
to gure out the skills to focus on and
develop that will improve your climbing. A recent survey showed that more
than 75 percent of climbers spend less
than 30 minutes a week actually analyzing their climbing to gure out how
to get better. We recommend spending
at least 30 minutes (if not more) a
week reecting on your climbing and
working to identify the things that will
help you climb better.
One way is to simply ask people
who have watched you climb what
things they would point out as areas
for improvement. Most of us dont like
to hear that we have things to improve
on. Our egos feel hammered when this
happens. You have to let go of your
ego, be open to feedback, and gure
out how you can improve. People who
perform at very high levels are always
good at taking constructive criticism
and turning that into valuable lessons
learned. So ask and listen. Dont try
and defend why you do what you do.
Just listen. Write down what a few
people say about areas where you
have room to improve, and especially
target areas that more than one person
pointed out.

In this phase, perform drills that build

or rewrite scripts to create the automatic movements that lead to efficient
climbing. In the previously mentioned
survey, more than 85 percent of climbers spend less than 25 percent of their
climbing time doing drills to develop
specic skills, like better footwork (see
p. 32) or dynamic movement. Spend at
least 25 percent of your climbing time
working to develop these skills. Spend
your warm-up time doing drills, or use
the time when you are climbing easy
routes to build these skills.
Perform these exercises in a safe
atmosphere. Allow yourself to fail and
try again. And again. The objective
will not be performance, but the repetition of movements or thoughts that
rewire the current scripts. Lets say
you struggle with dynamic movement.
Find some holds in the gym that allow
you to work on jumping between
holds without getting high off the
ground. Try a variety of footholds
and handholds; switch the catching
hand, cutting your feet, and any other
variables you can include. Practice
a variety of dynos a few times each,
until you feel like you have nailed
down each different movement. This
might not happen in one session, but
be patient and keep trying!

At this point, youve identied areas

that will yield the biggest improvements when mastered. Then you focused your training on those areas,
practicing exercises in a safe and
playful environment to form new
scripts. In this nal step, you solidify
the new habits that you created by
nding a route that you are excited
about and will be challenging for
you. Apply your scripts to the realworld situation of trying to send a
route under the pressures of difficult
moves, pumped arms, and potential
falls. This makes the scripts actually
useful in similar situations when
you really need them. It doesnt
matter whether youre trying to onsight or redpoint the route, but what
does matter is that you really want
to climb the route well and that its
challenging for you. This will create
emotions and feelings, including
excitement, that build a proper environment in which to practice your
new scripts. This will help move
them deeper into your subconscious
and make them automatic. Continuing this Think-Play-Send process
with other weak spots in your climbing will help you rapidly improve
your performanceand have more
fun along the way.

CLIMBING.COM

| 49

THE

CLIMBER WISDOM

CLIMB

VOICES

My boyfriend and I bought our rack

together. Now were breaking up. Who
gets to keep it?
Susan K., New Paltz, NY
Remember that Bible story about the two women
who each claimed to be the mother of the same
baby? Then that crazy-ass king was all, Lets cut it in
half, and you can share the baby! One woman was ne
with that plan, while the other sobbed and told the rst
she could keep it, thus revealing the true mothers identity
through her genuine love for the child. Your rack isnt (exactly) a baby, but what are we talking here? Indian Creek
set? Or some sort of nuts and hexes situation? If its the
latter, let him keep it. Buy yourself some new cams and
nd a man who understands that modern trad climbers
dont have to live in constant fear for their lives.
If the rack is relatively complete and you denitely
want it, you have a few options. 1) If you have doubles of
all your cams, split it down the middle. If youre missing
a second in a few sizes, toss in the Tricams, or whatever
periphery items you have, to sweeten his deal. 2) Prove
to your now-former toprope leech that his skills are inferior, and he doesnt deserve the set. Buy him out at half
of his original contribution to account for wear. 3) Sell
the rack; split the money.

Ask Answer Man

He knows climbing. And he knows it.

BRETT AFFRUNTI

Are zip-off pants ever acceptable? You cant argue their function,
but where do they fall on the dork spectrum?
Ted M., Modesto, CA
Zip-off pants fall roughly between fanny packs and LARPing on the NDS
(National Dork Standard), which means they are acceptable in the following
situations: 1) in the very far reaches of the backcountry, where there are no people
and no cameras, and 2) never.
Heres the thing, Ted: There are numerous better options out there in terms of
calf coverage. Take, for instance, La Sportivas Kendo Jean. It covers all in a sweet
denim-and-Cordura package that you can actually wear in public. If thats not techy
enough for your tastes (or youre the alpine type), check out Patagonias Rock Craft
Pants. Also, where on Earth are you climbing? Where does the climate uctuate so
often that one moment its too hot to bear the thought of having your ankles covered,
and then so cold that your shins might freeze solid? Do as me and my pals dobuy
a pair of thick, comfortable, above-the-ankle socks and wear shorts. Its all about
condence, and in a pair of zip-off pants, my friend, you clearly have none, or we
wouldnt be chatting right now.

AND OTHER
TOPICS...

What type of music should I listen to in

order to get psyched?
Sean P., Fort Collins, CO
Im partial to the technotastic pump-up jam
that is Sandstorm by the indelible DJ Darude.
But then I have an affinity for a genre of techno music
that went under in the late 1990s. That was before that
dweeb with half a haircut started making songs that
sound like a dial-up connection struggling to download
Jenna Jameson pics. But this is about you, not me!
I cant begin to guess what might get you hyped, Sean.
Could it be the soft intros that give way to raucous denouements of Bohemian Rhapsody or Come Sail Away?
Maybe crunchy, guitar-driven rock will blast you into send
mode? Perhaps Eminems anger or the self-congratulatory
anthems of Kanye West will help you oat that next line?
What gets you psyched is as personal as the shape of
your downstairs hang-low. And just like that undoubtedly
invigorating piece of work, it should remain private until
called upon. Ya dig? Try JayBird BlueBuds X for the ears,
Baskit Active Low-Rise Trunks for the other.

Got a burning question about climber etiquette, customs,

or values? Email answerman@climbing.com.

Which hangboard should I get? Any of the unused ones hanging above your friends door jambs. // When does the length of my stick-clip
become too extreme? The moment you refer to stick-clipping as extreme. // Is boars hair really better? Yes, but does it matter?

CLIMBING.COM

| 51

THE WRIGHT STUFF

Humans
and Heroes
BY CEDAR WRIGHT

Within days of my rst real rock climb, a crumbly 5.7 on Moonstone Beach at the age of 21, I
was completely consumed by a wild and unruly
passion for all things climbing. Rock overtook
my life with an unprecedented combustive fervor during
what had mainly been a listless collegiate existence. Much
as lost souls nd religion, I found climbing, and much as
true believers often do, I went on a pilgrimage to what may
as well have been the literal Mecca: Yosemite Valley.
The Yosemite Free Climbs guidebook was my bible and the Valley itself the holiest of churches. There were other important religious texts,
though, one of the most holy being Climbing magazine. Though my
income was in the low four gures, Id occasionally forgo a couple beers
to spring for an issue. And then I would read it zealously from cover to
cover, even all the copy in the ads. Then I would reread it.
Certain photos and stories etched themselves so deeply into the fabric of my psyche that they still guide my life to this day. For me, the most
heroic of prophets that I discovered within those hallowed pages was
Peter Croft. I remember picking up an old back issue at a friends house
with Peter on the cover sticking to the blank corner of The Shadow, a
5.12d in Squamish, as if he had super-human powers. Reading about his

52 | MAY 2014

accomplishments as a climber seemed as

otherworldly as Superman jumping over
the Empire State Building. Peters ropeless ascent of Astroman, a 1,100-foot 5.11c
on Washington Column in Yosemite, was
the most badass thing I could ever imagine. So when I got a call from photographer Greg Epperson asking if I would
belay Croft for a photoshoot on The Acid
Crack, a 5.12d in Joshua Tree, you might
as well have asked me if I wanted to ride
in a spaceship with Jesus.
Two days later, there I was eating
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with
Croft! It turned out there was a heat wave
and it was much too hot to climb, so Peter offered to give me a catch. With Peter belaying me, I sketched out the hand
jams on More Monkey Then Funky, a 5.11
roof. But what struck me more than anything else that day was just how plainly
human and normal Peter was. Honestly,
it was kind of a let down. Id imagined a
transformative experience basking in this
guys glory, but what I got was the discovery that my holiest of heroes was just another dude. In that sense, I
guess meeting Croft was pretty Earth-shatteringjust not in the way I
expected. Peter Croft is still my hero, though, and noweven better
hes become a friend. Climbing is a unique sport where it is common to
meet your heroes. Unlike team sports where the best play on a separate
eld, in climbing, we all frequent the same cliffs. You could bump into
Lynn Hill at Rie, or Tommy Caldwell among the boulders in Yosemite. Which brings me to a climber you might call the second coming of
Peter Croft: my good friend and part-time hero Alex Honnold, quite
possibly the most famous and idolized climber in the world today.
Ive been lucky to share some fun adventures with Alex in some faroff stretches of the world, and I am here to spoil your illusions that he,
just like all other climbers, is anything but human. Alex is simply a good
guy, one whom I sometimes worry about. After Alex soloed Moonlight
Buttress (5.12d), Monkeynger (5.12a), and Shunes Buttress (5.11c) in a
day (still, in my opinion, one of his more unsung but impressive feats),
he called me up with a wavering voice.
After topping out Shunes, which everyone else rappels, he was

Unlike team sports where the best play

on a separate eld, in climbing, we all
share the same cliffs.
forced to put up a rst ascent on a 2,000-foot, snow-covered, decomposing slabeasy, if you consider onsight-soloing 5.9 kitty litter easy.
High on this loose slab, with 2,000 feet straight to the deck below, he
simultaneously broke a foothold and a handhold, which sent him cartwheeling down the face. Alex Honnold fell soloing! To hear him tell it,
he kind of knew this might happen and had planned on grabbing a tree
hed been eyeballing about 15 feet down if the shitty holds he was using
didnt work out. He caught the tree but banged his knee pretty badly,
and then was forced to nd another variation of his intended route,

CEDAR WRIGHT

VOICES

which went better. Alex explained to me that it technically didnt count

as a free-solo fall because he had his approach shoes on.
This summer while Alex and I enchained all of the 14ers in California
by bike (climbing.com/insidesufferfest), he talked a bit about El Sendero Luminoso, a wild 1,500-foot wall of limestone with 11 5.12 pitches in El
Potrero Chico, Mexico. He had toyed with the idea of soloing it last winter, but realized that the route needed more cleaning and sussing before
it was a responsible decision. This summer, he called me up and asked
if Id be interested in helping him with the project. Id always wanted to
climb the route, and as a soloist myself, I jumped at the chance to help
push the progression of free soloing forward in my own small way.

FIND A GUIDE

Having heroes inspires us to work

harder, go farther, and pursue dreams.
We cleaned the shit out of the route, and Alex repeated the crux second pitch countless times because all of the holds were sideways and
one slip would result in an irrecoverable death plummet. We gured
out the 1,000-foot exit climb, and then after eight days, he was ready.
The morning of the big day, he lounged in bed, surfed Instagram, and
ate some yogurt and granola. Nothing remarkable. Then he set off to
free solo the route. I lmed the historic moment along with another one
of my hero-friends, Renan Ozturk, a world-class lmmaker and alpinist. It wasnt really scary to watch Alex. It was like observing a good line
cook methodically whip up an omelet, or a taxi driver taking the quickest route downtown. The solo was a rather boring display of businesslike comfort and control.
After eight days of hard work helping Alex, lming, and generally toiling, I had missed my chance to redpoint the route myself. We nished the
nal interviews for the lm, the sun began to set, and we realized we were
ying out the next day. I was pretty bummed to have come so far just to
scrub a route and not climb it. We could always go right now, Alex said,
half-joking. You know what, thats a good idea, I said, not wanting to let
the gauntlet he had thrown down go unanswered. I should.
And so we walked up to the base of El Sendero Luminoso one more time
by the last embers of daylight. I proceeded to pick my way up the technical
crimping and footwork in a surreal bubble of headlamp light. After I freed
the crux second pitch, I realized that I might have a chance, but there was
still more than 1,000 feet of hard technical climbing above me.
And then in a classic moment of rst-world problems, I dropped
my iPhone off the cliff trying to play some music. But it didnt matter.
I was that rst-time climber again, devoutly enraptured by a sense of
purpose and worth in what I was doing. In that moment, nothing could
suppress an unbridled sense of passion that was reminiscent of my rst
heady, religious years. As if on cue, a mariachi band started playing
loudly in the town down below. They serenaded Alex and me all the
way to the summit. I didnt free solo Sendero, and I never will, but I got
the consolation of what I believe to be the rst in a night free ascent.
Worked and completely satised, I stood at the top of the spectacular
1,500-foot route when Alex jumared up to me and said, Nice work,
dude. That was kind of heroic!
Having heroes inspires us to work harder, go farther, and pursue our own
dreams of greatness. In other words, to be a little more heroic ourselves. //

BECOME ONE

Cedar Wright is a professional climber and contributing editor for

Climbing Magazine. Gus the all-terrain pug is his full-time hero.

AMGA.COM

VOICES

SEMI-RAD

With A
Little Aid
From My

Friends
BY BRENDAN LEONARD

The sun was minutes away from ducking behind the West Rim of Zion Canyon on a February Saturday afternoon as I stretched high in
my aiders to plug a .5 Camalot in a splitter sandstone nger crack that shot 200 feet up above my head on
Touchstone Wall. I looked down at the other set of aiders
clipped to my harness, ying sideways in the breeze, a couple hundred feet of air between me and the Scenic Drive
road below, and I thought, How come nobody ever told me
about aid climbing?
54 |

MAY 2014

I was slowalmost two hours to lead each of my rst two aid pitches ever. I had worn the wrong shoes, so each step in the aiders painfully smashed the bones in my feet. I made a few stupid moves, like
stepping into one aider and crushing my ngers under the carabiner
connecting it to a piece (twice). We werent going to top out, or even
try, but I was getting my rst bit of a big wall education, nally.
Nine years before, I sat in a seat next to my then-girlfriend on the
Zion shuttle bus as it wound down the canyon from the last stop. Wed
gotten on after our post-dinner stroll on the Zion Riverwalk, a at
sidewalk that follows the Virgin River as the canyon walls close in
leading to The Narrows. I had climbed about a dozen sport pitches my

entire career, which was about three months old, and climbing was
so scary for me (terrible footwork) that I thought Id never get into it.
As my girlfriend and I chatted, the bus driver slowed and stopped
for three guys walking along the road in the dark; they were all wearing helmets, harnesses, and approach shoes. I didnt know anything
about climbing, but I knew they were climbers. I had no idea why a
couple of them were wearing kneepads. The bus driver asked them
which climb they were on, and they said Spaceshot. Then they said
something about xing the rst few pitches and coming back in the
morning, and I had no idea what that meant.
I must have stopped talking to eavesdrop, and my girlfriend later busted my balls about having a crush on the guys on the bus. I
laughed, but I was still curious.
I became a sport climber. We got married in Zion, and then I learned
how to place gear and started doing multi-pitch climbs. We got divorced
later, and I kept passing through Zion, just to walk around, maybe do
some bouldering. I looked up at those walls and saw climbers on them
and wondered what it was like up there, thinking maybe Id get up on
one somedaybut loving the parks skyscraper sandstone peaks from
the bottom so much that I didnt feel like I absolutely had to.

I struggled upward at a glacial pace,

sorting out my aiders and the rope,
back-cleaning, trying to learn something that was not-at-all free climbing.
I managed to make it through eight and a half years as a climber
without ever jugging a xed line, let alone learning to top-step in aiders. A couple friends badmouthed aid climbing, talking about how
slow it was, how much work it was.
In my many visits to Springdale and Deep Creek Coffee, I befriended Ethan, a local guide a decade younger than me, who offered to take
me up a wall someday. Finally I said yes, that would be awesome,
lets do it. I would love to lead just one pitch if at all possible. I bought
brand-new aiders, and Ethan taught me the basic sequence of aiding
on the rst two bolts of Touchstone Wall. And then he was patient for
the next ve hours while I struggled upward at a glacial pace, sorting
out my aiders and the rope, back-cleaning, trying to learn something
that was not-at-all free climbing. Cars full of park visitors whizzed by
below, and I could hear when the occasional one slowed to a stop to
look up at the climber on the wall. Maybe I looked calm and in control
from down there, I thought, as I not-at-all-calmly strained and shook
to step up again, and talked myself (out loud) into standing on an
offset nut I was only kind of sure was any good.
It was heavy and slow and a lot of work, but I nally got a taste of
what those guys on the shuttle bus were doing back in 2005, maybe
even making it into a photo by someone who would eventually get on
one of those big red walls, too. Im glad I held on to that memory and
curiosity so longand had someone to help open the door to all those
climbs with Cs in the grade. //

Brendan Leonard is a contributing editor for Climbing. His rst book,

The New American Road Trip Mixtape, is available at semi-rad.com.

Dingus McGee had sent me written

directions and three separate maps to
Reese Mountain, but when we drove
onto the Vale Ranch in Wyomings
Laramie Mountains last September,
already layered in dust from 15 miles
of dirt roads, we quickly lost our
way. A maze of ranch roads twisted
through the grass like Land Rover
tracks across the African veldt. In the
distance, studying Dingus photos,
we recognized the long ridge of Reese Mountain, where he and his posse
have put up about 200 routes during
the past two decades. But how were
we supposed to get there?
Dingus had said Reese held the best sport climbing
hed ever doneand hes put up more new routes in
eastern Wyoming and South Dakota than any man alive.
His photos revealed a striking n of gray, green, and red
rock, like a granite version of Eldorado Canyon in Colorado, but with better holds and plenty of bolts. Most of
the routes are in the sweet spot for sport climbing popularity: 5.9 to mid-5.12. But Reese, wed soon learn, presents many challenges unrelated to actual rock climbing.
It took us an hour just to nd the trailhead.
A faint trail plunged down a slippery, wet draw
through aspen and scrubby oaks. In the creekbed we
pushed through thickets of poison ivy with glossy, scar-

58 | MAY 2014

let leaves. (Reese climbers, we learned later, always hike

to the crag in gaiters or rain pants, and then scrub their
exposed skin with soap and water before climbing.) Bear
shit lay in prodigious, berry-lled piles in the path. After
more than an hour of walking, we climbed over a small
ridge to a view of the crags, still 500 feet up a hillside.
Suddenly the wind blew so hard that we staggered under
our packs, loaded with food and gear for three days.
Within ve minutes of reaching the lowest cliff, looking up and wondering which line of mystery bolts would
make a good warm-up, I cartwheeled into the talus as
a boulder rolled under my feet. As I gingerly checked
for injuries, I was approached by a wiry, slightly stooped

Route developer, rst ascensionist, and

Reese Mountain local Dennis Horning (aka
Dingus McGee) cruises the route Pseudo
Scalars (5.10b) at the Amphitheater.

man. He had a silver beard and tangled hair poking out

from under a ball cap and wore wire-rimmed glasses
and a threadbare sweater. He looked us over. You made
it! said Dingus McGee. He sounded surprised to see us.
I was beginning to sense why Dingus and his gang
had decided to spill the beans on their long-secret enclave. Given what wed experienced before even roping
up, it seemed unlikely that Reese would soon be overrun
with gym climbers.

was the new young police officer walking to work just

after dusk, he said. Just after the jailing, a girl that had
a crush on me showed up and offered to sneak some
hamburgers through the small window. I asked for a
hacksaw blade instead. They let everyone out when the
10 oclock curfew whistle blew, and we never told anyone
about the bar Id sawn through in that cell.
Horning discovered climbing in 1971 during a joy
ride to Devils Tower on a new motorcycle. Ignoring the
Hiking Above Talus Requires
a Permit sign, he scrambled
to the base of Hollywood and
Vine (5.10c). It was obvious
he couldnt go farther without gear and knowledge, so
he bought a how-to book at
the visitor center. Back at
the South Dakota School of
Mines and Technology, where
he was studying engineering,
he asked local cavers where
they bought their carabiners,
and then sent an entire paycheck to Boulder Mountaineer (a gear shop in Boulder,
Colorado, now closed) to order gear.
The Black Hills held the
closest rock to campus, and
Horning dragged friends out
to the Needles, Mt. Rushmore, and Elkhorn Mountain,
climbing whatever looked
good. There was no real
guidebook and precious few
climbers in the area. Most of
the routes he did were probably new.
Horning was a good athletehe later competed in
Nordic skiing and wrote
mountain
biking
guidebooksbut it wasnt just the
physical side of climbing that
appealed to him. He was an
engineer and liked to make
stuff. (He learned to make
homebrew when he was just
14with his parents permissionand at the tipi camp
outside Devils Tower National Monument, where climbers
used to crash in the 80s, he
constructed a bicycle-powered device to grind wheat
for pancakes.) Making new routes naturally followed.
He might be the most prolic rst ascensionist ever in
the Black Hills, probably even more than Herb and Jan
Conn [the original pioneers of Black Hills climbing],
said Brent Kertzman, a longtime climber from Rapid
City, South Dakota.
During his rst year of climbing, Horning spotted a
group of climbers on a pinnacle in the Black Hills. It

Dingus McGee, ne Dennis Horning, is one of Americas most prolic and enduring route developers.
(Horning adopted the nickname
from a 1970 lm, Dirty Dingus Magee, starring Frank Sinatra. Its a
long story, and Dingus is more than
happy to tell it, but itd require a
thousand-word detour.) Over more
than 40 years, Horning has established or freed hundreds of routes
at Devils Tower, the Black Hills of
South Dakota, throughout southern Wyoming, and in other states.
In the early 1980s, he was a pioneer
of what eventually would be called
sport climbing. And hes still at it:
Last winter, at age 65, he redpointed the rst ascent of a 5.12 route at
Guernsey State Park, a recently
developed sport area in Wyoming.
Dingus is a born raconteur, telling stories in a highpitched, singsong drawl, and his life has given him plenty of material. Growing up in Edgemont, South Dakota,
(pop. 774) just south of the Black Hills, he was a bright,
smart-ass kid who got in a lot of trouble without doing
much real damage. When he was 17, Horning and some
friends were jailed briey for lobbing eggs at someone
they thought had just egged them. Well, that person

60 | MAY 2014

Clockwise from top: Yet another obstacle to overcome on the approach into
Reese Mountain; Peter Vintoniv has some fun on the juggy topout of Eat a
Lotta Peaches (5.12a); Horning in a cozy bivouac hideout.

turned out to be Tom Higgins, Bob Kamps, Mark Powell,

and Dave Rearick, four of the strongest free climbers of
the day. They befriended me immediately, and the next
few days I climbed with them and learned a lot, including their ideas of what would later be called climbing
ethics, Horning said. So I learned from the traddest of
the trad, Horning said. He paused for a beat: I guess it
didnt catch. He also later met bouldering legend John
Gill in the Needles.
Without much concern for what other climbers
thoughtat a time when most new routes were still
established ground-upHorning began experimenting
with rappelling to place bolts. Doing new routes for
me is a creative undertaking that makes use of several
of my skill sets, Horning explained. But by the time I
met Kamps and that group at the Needles, I had my own
ideas as to what constitutes safety and fun. When you
climb a new line, you are in control of the outcome, and I
had several convictions of what I wanted out of a climb.
Boldness and runouts never had much merit for me. If
I did a climb, I wanted some 99.9 percent likelihood I
would be around for another.
Horning said he came out of the closet about his
top-down tactics in 1981, and in 1983 he rap-bolted
the second pitch of Everlasting (5.10c) at Devils Tower,
while doing the rst ascent. Locals were furious, he
said. But I put up a third of the routes at the Tower.
I was more local than anyone! (In fact, Horning put
up or freed about a quarter of the routes in the Devils

Tower guidebook, including many favorites: Assembly

Line (5.9), Burning Daylight (5.10b), One-Way Sunset
(5.10c), Mr. Clean (5.11a), the rst free ascent of McCarthy North Face (5.11a), and, of course, Everlasting.)
Back in the 70s, I was a ranger at the Tower, and
Dennis was on the South Dakota Climbing Team, which
means he was on unemployment for the summer, said
longtime partner and friend Frank Sanders (see climbing.com/route/under-the-devils-spell). Dennis denitely raised free climbing standards on the Tower.
Horning and his ex-wife, Hollis Marriott, popularized
climbing at Devils Tower and the Black Hills through a
long-running series of guidebooks, published under the
pen names Dingus McGee and the Last Pioneer Woman. The Tower guide went through at least 14 editions.
Kertzman climbed many new routes with Dingus in
the Black Hills, including some controversial rappelbolted climbs in the early 1990s. Later, Kertzman said,
I decided there were better places to play that game,
but Dennis would say, Lets stir up the hornets nest.
Lets see how long these routes will stand before they
get chopped.
I call him the Howard Stern of southeastern Wyoming climbing, Kertzman added. Hes not worried
about what other people think. And he was a harbinger
of sortshe understood climbings evolution.
Dingus had enrolled in college to escape the draft and
Vietnam, and he eventually chose mechanical engineering for a degree. However, he said, Before I had nished

CLIMBING.COM

| 61

Jules Cho on the superb 5.10+ start to

Down Converter (5.12a) at The Curl.

62 | MAY 2014

Clockwise from top: Alton Richardson warms up on the crimpy bulges of Red Mite (5.9+) at The Curl; Peter Vintoniv and Jules Cho explore the pool-covered top of Reese Mountain; local climbers make dinner
and relive the days exploits in Reeses rock-walled hideaway; fellow developer Mike Friedrichs looks for the next hold on Aeolus (5.12a), a mostly chalkless wall; bolter and rst ascensionist Ryan Laird gathers
the necessary gear for a day of equipping at the mountain.

64 |

MAY 2014

three semesters working on my masters, I discovered

climbing. My foggy career goals soon became denite: I
would rather be climbing than working at an engineers
desk. (He eventually did get a masters and worked on a
Ph.D., with the thesis topic Using Lagrangian Coordinates to Model Shock Wave Propagation in Snow.) Now
he works just enough to get by, doing home remodeling
and other building projects. Mostly he climbs.
In recent years, Horning and partners have developed
dozens of routes in Harts Draw, a side canyon of Indian
Creek, Utah; more than 100 routes at Guernsey, the lowest elevation and warmest winter climbing area in Wyoming; and about 60 routes on the limestone of 4 Stories,
a summertime crag in the Snowy Range west of Laramie. Horning found Reese in the 1980s while perusing
maps of the Laramie Mountains for mountain biking
routes. He saw a cluster of contour lines and thought, I
gotta check that out!

coarse at times and doesnt have the small-grain compactness of Reese granite.
Like Friedrichs, many Reese climbers are part of a
Wyoming diasporaclimbers who once lived or studied in the university town of Laramie but migrated
elsewhere for work, or just to escape the wind, and now
come back for homecomings at Reese and other favored
crags. Ryan Laird, who now lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, says, The remoteness and ruggedness of Reese
provide a sense of solitude. The different sections of the
ridge offer a huge variety of rock shapes and climbing
styles: featured technical faces, four-pitch slabs, steep
roofs, and even a few splitter cracks. Its a special place.
On our second day at Reese, we headed for The Curl
with Friedrichs, Laird, and Anne Yeagle, another Reese
climber now living in Utah, seeking the morning sun
and some shelter from the sharp knife thrusts of Wyoming wind. We sampled a new route that Laird had just

The southwest ridge of Reese

Mountain is a granite n that rises
about 1,400 feet above winding
Ashley Creek. Both sides of the
ridge and its tip are laced with
climbs. Because of the different sun
and wind aspects, and who-knowswhat geological inuences, the rock
and the climbing vary from crag to
crag along the ridge.

Bolts have made Reeses burly approach a little lighter

and thus, more enjoyable. Below: Reese Mountain gangster Woody Barnmore hikes out through the scrub after a
weekend of cragging.

The Hightower, at the low end of the ridge, has tricky

sidepulls and edges, with a second tier of routes up an
overhanging headwall. The Curl, around the right side,
has chickenheads and incut edges. On the opposite
side is the Amphitheater, a at plane of gray overhanging rock. Higher up the ridge, Douglas Park, usually
accessed by rappel from the ridge top, has overhanging slopers. Sherard Tower, near the top of the n, has
longer routes with slabs and roofs. Bolts are plentiful,
and Horning and other climbers are rebolting their old
routes to turn them into pure sport climbs or to reduce
the possibility of ledge falls and other hazards. Weve
crossed the River Styx between trad and sport, Horning
laughed. I dont want this to be a stick-clip area.
Ive climbed at a lot of places, and steep, featured
granite is pretty hard to nd, says Mike Friedrichs, a
Salt Lake City climber who has been coming to Reese
and developing new routes since about 1993. City of
Rocks comes the closest to what Reese is like. But it is

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| 65

completed, brushing drill dust off the holds. Yeagle and

Friedrichs led two 5.12a pitches, cranking positive edges
over bulges. I climbed several 5.10 pitches that would be
three stars anywhere in Colorado. Horning showed little
inclination to shoe up. That ones beyond my hangingon ability, he said at one point. Instead, he directed trafc, telling the crew which routes they ought to climb for
photographer Andrew Burr.
After lunch, I tried and failed to nd the right sequence for the hand-jam and iron-cross crux of a wild
5.11 called Sex at Noon Taxes. Dingus, a fan of puns and
palindromes, had coined that name. He is also prone to
practical jokes and pranks. Once, when he felt a partner
was lingering and chatting with
other climbers for too long near
the top of Devils Tower, Dingus
rappelled off without him. Kertzman said every climbing trip he
did with Dingus had a theme,
usually involving atulence or
sex or human activities too perverse to describe in this magazine,
upon which Horning would riff
for days, sometimes in nasty ways,
like a kid who doesnt know when
to stop teasing.
I learned a lot from the guy,
and hes been inspirational, but
in a kind of tormenting way, said
Kertzman. Hes more of a tormentor than a mentor.
Zach Orenczak, who has been
climbing at Reese since 1998 and
is about to publish a guidebook
to the Laramie Mountains (see
Beta section), said of Horning,
The steep routes of Reese were
built by the blood, sweat, and
tears of his many younger partners. Reese is Dennis ShangriLa, and when hes out there, hes
the king. He rules with an iron
st and incredible punctuality.
If you are not ready to hop in
his van the moment hes ready
to roll, hell steal your route and
name it Zachoff [Rendezvous
Buttress, 5.11a]. At least he gives
credit where credit is due.
Dennis can be irascible, petulant, and loves to argue, Friedrichs said. Some people just dont
want to be around him anymore.
But Dennis also has a really caring side to him. One time a woman in Laramie was in an
auto accident and was hurt pretty badly. Dennis showed
up at her house and did chores for a couple of months
until she was back on her feet. Hes given away more
rst ascents than most people ever have. I hadnt known
Dennis very long when he asked me if I wanted to do a
rst ascent at Devils Tower. He had cleaned the crack of
poison ivy and placed a bolt, and he gave me the lead.
Ive seen him do that for a lot of people.

Dennis is also interesting, Friedrichs added. He

calls me at least a couple times a month to talk about
string theory or nutritiononce, a long discourse on
welding. It made me realize that you dont have to stop
learning when you get older.
One veteran Wyoming climber calls Horning a cantankerous know-it-all. Another calls him a cherished
friend. To many, it seems, he is both.
One of my favorite stories is actually recounted by
Dennis himself, Laird said. The family that lives next
to Dennis once told their 6-year-old that he needed
adult supervision to play outside. The kid thought about
it for a minute and then asked, Is Dennis an adult?

Late in the day, we hiked to the top

of the southwest ridge, and Friedrichs, Yeagle, and I rappelled off
the far side into Douglas Park. I
climbed back out via Hanging of
Yellowstone Kelly, a superb 5.11b
with sequential cruxes between
good rests. Friedrichs led the appropriately named Aeolus (5.12b),
and then belayed on top with his
coat snapping in the wind. One
time I couldnt even throw the rope
down to rappel to Douglas Park,
the wind was so bad, he said later.
I had to tie a pack to the rope to
get it to go down. The night before
we arrived at Reese, the wind destroyed a brand-new tent.

66 | MAY 2014

Is it always like this? I asked Horning, hunched in

the lee of a boulder.
May and September are windy, he said. July is too
hot. June and August are good.
Reese is a bastion of Type 2 funactivities that seem
fun only after theyre over and youre telling stories
about them in the barwhich is undoubtedly part of
the appeal for certain climbers. I have had too many
Reese experiences to count, Laird said. I have been

THE DINGUS DOZEN

The Reese Mountain Gangs all-time favorites

RED MITE (5.9+)

THE CURL
Great warm-up with chickenheads, bulges, rests, and an
optional 5.10 nish.

RIDE STEPPENWOLF
(5.11A/B)
HIGHTOWER
Sidepulls, edges, and pinches
for 140 feet on the upper wall.

BLOCK PARTY (5.10C)

HIGHTOWER
150 feet of fun.

HANGING OF YELLOWSTONE KELLY (5.11B)

DOUGLAS PARK
The best 11b in all of Wyoming.

ROPE TRICKS (5.10D)

HIGHTOWER
Pinches and gastons rule over
crimps.
MRS. RADICAL (5.11A)
DOUGLAS PARK
How good are you at slopers?

SPORT TRINDLEBERG
(5.11B)
THE CURL
A steep wall to a delicate
hip-shifter roof exit, with more
ght to come on the face
above.

TWENTY RED
LIGHTS (5.11C)
THE AMPHITHEATER
An overhanging face not
yet ashed by a Vedauwoo
climberthey always go for
the crack.
GAMMA BURSTS (5.11C)
HIGHTOWER
Burly moves on a doubleoverhanging dihedral.
AEOLUS (5.12B)
DOUGLAS PARK
Left-trending crack and
corner system. Spectacular
stemming and arte moves.

DOWN CONVERTER (5.12A)

THE CURL
Difficult stemming nishes with a crimp at the exit
shaped like a light switch in
the on position. The rst 80
feet to an anchor on the right
is 5.10+ and excellent.
FADING INTO MY OWN
PARADE (5.12A/B)
THE AMPHITHEATER
Fading will happen when
your hands cant feel to
grip, toes too numb to step,
and your boot heels are
wanderin. (Apologies to
Bob Dylan.)
Commentary by
Dennis Horning

Dingus climbs with stylequite literallyin a cashmere

sweater and an old-school brain bucket on Just Another
Saturday Night (5.10b) at The Curl.

CLIMBING.COM

| 67

Welcome to Undercling City, population three:

you and your two pumped biceps. Jules Cho
combines friction-slab footwork with pulling-in
power to navigate the brilliant overlapping n
features on the Book Pages Wall, an area with
six routes, all in the 5.9 to 5.10 range.
68 | MAY 2014

baked, frozen, wind-whipped, and mosquito-bitten. I

have experienced rain that soaked through my rain gear
to my underwear, and forded ooded streams. I have
seen deer, elk, bighorn sheep, rattlesnakes, and lynx. Ive
skinny-dipped and stomped out a brush re, but not at
the same time.
In July 2002, Friedrichs and Yeagle hiked into Reese
late at night during a fearsome lightning storm. We sat
on the rocks and watched an amazing show, Friedrichs
recalled. The next morning there was a faint smell
of smoke. Anne and I hiked around and climbed two
pitches on Hightower. On top of the second pitch we
saw smoke to the northwest. We headed back to camp
and watched for about 15 minutes until ames came
over the ridge two or three miles away. The ames were
leaping from tree to tree. We packed up and left as fast
as we could, and the re eventually burned almost all
the way around Reese. We were lucky the wind didnt
pick up.
Rattlesnakes have been discovered at least twice at
Camp Dingus, Hornings favorite campsite atop the
ridge. We really like rattlesnakes, but not at camp,
Friedrichs said. Dennis made a snare from a stick and
a piece of twine, caught the snake, and put it in a vegallon bucket. We put a lid on it, and Anne rappelled off
the west side with the bucket clipped to her harness so
she could let the snake go.
In such an environment, its not surprising the Reese

regulars do their best to ease the burden. When climbers are occupying Camp Dingus, hidden in a sandy
patch amid the convoluted rocks on top of the ridge, a
camouage tarp keeps off the rain and sun, and a lter
system provides drinking water from potholes lled by
storms. The Reese crew stashes ropes and gear in strategic locations around the crags, and they stock mouseproof thrift-store suitcases with cooking supplies and
other necessities for return visits. This way, they can
hike in for several days of climbing with a daypack
weighing only 10 or 15 pounds. Entering Camp Dingus after scrambling up a gravelly gully and threading
through rock passageways feels like youve stumbled
into a guerrilla hideout. You expect to encounter armed
sentries and trip wires.
Horning estimates he has spent more than a year
of his life at Reese. One time he stayed there 18 days
straight. Understandably, hes a bit possessive. Twice,
most recently in 2005, billionaire Pat Broe, who owns
Notch Peak Ranch just to the north of Reese, tried to
negotiate a land swap with federal officials that would
have moved about 5,000 acres of land, including Reese
Mountain, into his holdings. Horning helped rally opponents to the deal and kept Reese in public hands.
On day three the wind had lessened just a bit, and we
walked around to the Amphitheater for two overhanging
classics: Twenty Red Lights (5.11c) and Fading Into My
Own Parade (5.12a/b). Looking up at the latter, FriedClockwise from left: Photographer Andrew Burr enjoys a classic Wyoming hot
tub in the elds leading into the climbing area; Yeagle nds more exposure on
the Sport Trindleberg (5.11b); the roads to Reese can be more than a bit baffling
for the rst-time visitor.

CLIMBING.COM

| 69

richs said, That routes all 12b before you get to the 12b.
In late morning, Horning got inspired to climb. After a
couple of us had done a long, tricky 5.10, Horning laced
up, tied in, and oated the route. At 65, because of exercise-induced asthma, he no longer ski-races or bikes, but
hes plenty t. If youre going to hike with Dennis, you
better put your track shoes on, Friedrichs said.
The Amphitheater had obvious room for new routes,
likely very hard, but I wondered who would do them.
Theres not much harder than 5.12b at Reese, and not
much easier than 5.10. Given the isolation, the short
season, the snakes, and the wind, even this article and
the new guidebook are unlikely to lure hordes of sport
climbers. Which will leave Reese Mountain to those

SPLIT ROCK

who love it.

Dingus rst invited me to Reese about 15 years ago
when he saw me climb the Left Torpedo Tube (5.10+)
at Vedauwoo blindfolded, said Laird. Apparently he
gured that if I liked climbing that much, then I would
love the climbing at Reese. Ive been trying to keep up
with Dingus ever since. Reese is unique, and I love sharing the experience with other climbers and seeing how
the place affects them.
In early afternoon, facing a long drive home, I started
to hike out from Reese alone. A rattlesnake buzzed by
my feet as I followed the faint path up Duck Creek, and I
got lost halfway to the car. But I knew I was one of those
climbers whod soon nd his way back. //

REESE MOUNTAIN

ASHLEY CREEK

Jackson

Reese Mountain

Cheyenne

DUCK CREEK

1/3 mile

BETA
GET THERE Reese Mountain
is in the Laramie Mountains,
west of Wheatland, Wyoming.
Allow about four hours of
driving from Denver or eight
hours from Salt Lake City.
The last hour of the drive is
along the gravel Tunnel Road
and two-tracks across Vale
Ranch; high-clearance vehicle
recommended. The hike from
the parking area at the top of
Tony Gulch takes about 1.5
hours; the faint trail goes down
Tony Gulch to Duck Creek and

70 | MAY 2014

follows this to the conuence

with Ashley Creek. GPS tracks
for the drive across Vale Ranch
and the hike can be found at
climbing.com/reese. Maps
and other approach information are at mountainproject.
com. Allow a few extra hours
for the driving and hiking
route-nding on your rst visit.
GUIDEBOOK Zach Orenczak
and his wife, Rachael Lynn, will
release High Adventure in the
Laramie Range: A Climbers

Guide ($50, extremeangles.

com) in August. The book will
cover Reese and many other
crags accessed by Tunnel Road.
CAMPING There are good
sites in the meadow below the
crags (make sure youre above
private land at the junction of
Ashley and Duck creeks; water
may be hard to nd in late
summer). You can also camp
on top of the crags; potholes
hold water year-round (ltration mandatory).

SEASON The Reese Mountain

window extends from May
through September, with
June and late August typically
offering the best climbing,
without being too scorchingly
hot. Some roads may be difcult to pass in early season.
Parts of the Laramie Peak
Wildlife Habitat Management
Area, including the approach
to Reese Mountain, are closed
to public access December 1
through April 30 to protect
breeding bighorn sheep.

ANDREW MATRANGA (MAP); GOOGLE, USDA FARM SERVICE AGENCY (MAP DATA)

PARKING

Picturesque Prusik Peak rises high

above Gnome Tarn in the Enchantments,
Cascades, Washington.

72 | MAY 2014

7 EASY ROUTES FOR YOUR SUMMER TICK LIST

KENNAN HARVEY

BY BRENDAN LEONARD

Sometimes, when committing to a move, I hear my friend Lees

cranky voice in my head: Could you pull that 600 feet off the deck?
Its his old-school way of busting my chops. Sure, Brendan, you can
climb 5.whatever in the gym, or at the crag, but are you confident
enough to do the same thing high on a face 10 miles from the car?
Can you keep your composure onsighting a route on a peak, not totally sure if youre on the right route, with rock that looks OK, but
might have loosened during its previous freeze-thaw cycle? Pulling
a crux move in the alpine is just that much more exciting. Its an
addictive feeling that every climber should experience. So weve
curated a list of seven introductory alpine routes that keep the adventure high and the technical difficulty at a mellow 5.8 or lower.
THE ARMADILLO (5.7, 6 PITCHES)
Katahdin, Maine

ENJOY A BIG DAY ON THE NORTHEASTS LONGEST SUMMIT ROCK CLIMB

Katahdin is legendary to Henry David Thoreau devotees, Appalachian Trail
thru-hikers, and the scramblers who summit via its famously exposed (but only
class two) Knife Edgebut its also got several underrated rock climbs. The
Armadillo is the Big Ks most classic: Varied climbing on steep, quality granite
with airy moves and views 2,000 feet down into the pine-carpeted bowl of
Katahdins South Basin. Bluebird days (target July to September) deliver shimmering reections from the icy, blue waters of Chimney Pond below. A climb this
long reaching a true summit is rare east of the Mississippi.

BETA
G E T THE R E: The crux of The Armadillo might be the logistics. Get to the Roaring
Brook parking lot (eight miles north of the Togue Gate at Baxter State Park on
Roaring Brook Road) in time to get a parking spotthe lot lls up fast on busy
weekends, so be there by 5 or 6 a.m. Then make sure you make it up the three-mile,
1,500-foot elevation-gain hike to Chimney Pond by 8 a.m., which is the cut-off
time for climbers attempting routes on Katahdin. You dont need a permit, but you

74 | MAY 2014

do have to check in with the rangers and have a quick gear inspection. Some wannabe summiteers have allegedly been turned around for not having a No. 4 cam,
so make sure your rack is complete. From Chimney Pond, hike up slabs to the right
side of a huge triangular ake lying against the base of the buttress on a grassy
ledge. Rope up here and start climbing the chimney. From the top of the ake, head
up and left on exposed, steep face climbing past old pins to the base of a 60-foot
5.7 st crack; this is where you want your No. 4. At the top of the crack, the route
heads right, and the climbing eases up to get to the Knife Edge that takes you all
the way to the craggy summit.
DESCENT: From the summit, hike back down the Knife Edge and descend the
Helen Taylor Trail to the parking lot.
STAY T H ER E: Camp at the Roaring Brook Campground or backpack 3.3 miles to
the Chimney Pond Campground ($11 to $30 per night, reservations recommended, baxterstateparkauthority.com, 207-723-5140).
GU I D EBO O K: Rock Climbing New England, by Stewart Green ($35, falcon.com)

NORTH BUTTRESS
(5.7, 6 PITCHES)

Pagoda Mountain, Rocky Mountain

National Park, Colorado
TACKLE A PARK CLASSIC WITHOUT
QUEUEING UP AT THE BASE
When alpine season begins in the park,
climbers ock to the classics: the Petit
Grepon, the Casual Route on the Diamond,
and the North Ridge of Spearhead. But while
everyone else is bee-lining for these routes,
change course and head to the North Buttress
of Pagoda, a quality six-pitch route that gets
one-fth the traffic. It also delivers alpine
views of the half-dozen 13ers (and one 14er
Hello, Longs!) that wrap around the Glacier
Gorge cirque; you can see them all the way up
to the 13,497-foot summit. Splitter cracks,
juggy climbing on the steep crux fourth pitch,
and a section of chimneying make the case
for this route to be included among the best
of RMNP alpine rock climbs. Local guide Eli
Helmuth says its arguably an even more aesthetic and inspiring route than the next-door
North Ridge of Spearhead.

BETA
G E T THERE: Get a bivy permit at the RMNP
backcountry office; reserve starting March
1 ($20, 970-586-1319). From the Glacier
Gorge trailhead, hike six miles to nd a bivy
spot under overhanging boulders near the base
of Spearhead. (Doing it in a day is possible, but
a long day.) Get an early start and scramble up
the left side of the buttress. Near the bottom
of the obvious black band of rock that crosses
the face, a system of left-facing corners
bisects the buttress. Traverse to the bottom of
the corner system and rope up there.

ELI HELMUTH

DESCENT: Walk off the east ridge of Pagoda

toward the saddle between Pagoda and the
Keyboard of the Winds. Scramble northwest
down talus back to your bivy.
STAY THERE: Camp at the Moraine Park Campground ($20 per night) in RMNP; reservations
recommended (recreation.gov, 877-4446777).
G UI D E BO O K: Rocky Mountain National Park,

The Climbers Guide: The High Peaks, by Bernard Gillett ($31, earthboundsports.com)

Two climbers up high on the

North Ridge of Pagoda, just
below the summit.

CLIMBING.COM

| 75

Disappointment Peak (circled) is

so-named because rst ascensionists
thought they could easily summit the
Grand Teton via this smaller peak.

EAST RIDGE (5.6, 3-4 PITCHES)

Disappointment Peak, Teton Range, Wyoming

It may seem like there is only one mountain in Grand Teton National Parkthe
Grand Tetonwith only two climbing routes on it: Exum Ridge and the OwenSpalding. Or thats what you might think if you hiked up Garnet Canyon on a
summer weekend. But theres so much more, including the East Ridge on Disappointment Peak. Jack Durrance (legendary claims to fame include the North
Face Standardthe rst route on the Grands, yes, North Faceand the Durrance Route on Devils Tower) rst climbed this ridge in 1937. Youll likely have
the route to yourself, and its a great introduction to alpine climbing, with mostly
easy climbing until the last pitch. All done in a world-class mountain setting. The
nal steep moves past a couple xed pins are full-value Teton rock climbing, with
1,000 feet of air around the corner into Glacier Gulch to your right.

76 |

MAY 2014

BETA
GET THERE: From the Lupine Meadows trailhead, hike up the Garnet Canyon Trail to Amphitheater Lake, where the East Ridge will be plainly visible on the lakes north side.
DESCENT: Walk down the southeast ridge of Disappointment Peak to Amphitheater
Lakea little route-nding will keep the scramble easy at third class.
STAY THERE: Crash at the AACs Teton Climbers Ranch inside the park ($16 for members/$25 non-members), reservations recommended (americanalpineclub.org/gtcr).
GUIDEBOOK: Teton Rock Climbs: A Select Guide to the Classic and Not-So-Classic
Climbing Routes of the Teton Range, by Aaron Gams ($27, wolverinepublishing.com)

MIKE CAVAROC / TANDEMSTOCK.COM

TAG A SUMMIT ON THIS INTRO TO TETON CLIMBING COURSE

GOTHICS ARCH (5.6, 7 PITCHES)

Gothics, Adirondacks, New York

CLAMBER UP A TECHNICAL LINE ON THE BIGGEST, CLEANEST SLIDE IN THE DAKS

The Adirondacks are famous for their fourth- and fth-class slide climbs:
rambles up the giant rock slabs adorning the sides of some of the rolling green
peaks in the Northeasts largest playground. Every face of Gothics has exposed
rock, and guidebook author Jeremy Haas says the peak is second only to Katahdin for potential in long mountain rock routes. Gothics Arch adds some technical
terrain, tackling 800 feet of anorthosite up the south face of Gothics. Its relative
isolation and long approach (6.5 miles and 3,000 feet of elevation gain to the
base) make it one of the longest, most committing days in the Adirondacksbut
the climbing stays at 5.6 the whole way.

public lands is allowed 150 feet away from trails, roads, and streams, and below
4,000 feet elevation. Car camp at the ADK Wilderness Campground 22 miles
west, near Lake Placid ($40/night, adk.org, 518-523-3441).
GU I D EBO O K: Adirondack Rock, by Jim Lawyer and Jeremy Haas ($37, adirondack-

rock.com)

LISA DENSMORE (TOP); BRETT HOLMAN / TANDEMSTOCK.COM

BETA
G E T THERE: The St. Huberts trailhead is eight miles south of Keene on NY-73.
From the St. Huberts trailhead, hike four miles south on the West River Trail,
then west on the Alfred W. Weld Trail for two miles. Hike north on the PyramidGothics Trail over the summit of Pyramid Peak and down to the saddle between
Pyramid and Gothics. From the saddle, bushwhack southwest to the base of the
slabs that make up Gothics south face. Traverse across the face to the base of a
black streak running down the face, at the left edge of the arch. Rope up here.
DESCENT: Hike the Gothics-Pyramid Trail back to the summit of Pyramid and

reverse the approach back to the trailhead.

STAY THERE: The trail crosses in and out of private and public lands; camping on

NORTH ARTE (5.7, 6 PITCHES)

Matterhorn Peak, Sierra Nevada, California
A CROWD-FREE SIERRA CLASSIC WITH VARIED CLIMBING ON PERFECT GRANITE

Matterhorn (circled) juts

out of the Sawtooth Ridge
to top out at 12,285 feet.

You could argue that the 5.6 East Buttress of Mount Whitney is the king of
high-country California moderates. And youd be right. Problem is, that also
makes it one of the most crowded climbs in the area. For a calmer atmosphere,
head north to Matterhorn Peak and tackle the North Arte, where youll nd
six granite pitches of edges, cracks, stemming, and a majestic vista of jagged
peaks punctuated by snow-lled couloirsall to yourself. If you crank it out in
a day (roughly 16 miles round-trip), you dont even have to mess around with
backcountry permits. Too big? Camp at the unnamed tarn just northeast of the
summit.

BETA
GET T H ER E: From Bridgeport, drive 14 miles southwest on Twin Lakes Road to
Mono Village. Hike up the Horse Creek Trail until it begins to switchback away
from Horse Creek, and then hike cross-country (no official trail here) along the
drainage. Eventually youll make it onto loose scree and nally the snow slope
that sits below the peakpack an ice axe just in case, in all seasons. Climb two
pitches up and right to the arte, and then step around onto the arte for a dose
of exposure. Stay right of the arte for the fourth pitch, a 150-foot hand crack.
Head left through a notch on the arte, and then move up and left to the nal
dihedral to a chimney, which is the crux. After the last pitch, scramble up 200
feet of class-four rock to the summit.
DESCENT: Hike east off the summit, and then north down the East Gully (climb-

ers left of the route).

STAY T H ER E: Stay at Lower Twin Lakes Campground ($20/night, recreation.gov),
or backcountry camp to break up the hike ($3/person, fs.usda.gov/htnf).
GU I D EBO O K: High Sierra Climbing, by Chris McNamara ($25, supertopo.com)
CLIMBING.COM

| 77

Sundial reects in the calm waters

of Lake Blanche in the Wasatch
Mountains near Salt Lake City, Utah.

ELEVENTH HOUR
(5.8, 4-5 PITCHES)

A Cascades climber literally

strolls up a casual section of
the West Ridge.

Sundial, Wasatch Range, Utah

CRUISE ON ALPINE ROCK 30 MINUTES
FROM DOWNTOWN SALT LAKE CITY
Shingo Ohkawa, buyer for International
Mountain Equipment in Salt Lake City and
longtime wizard of the Wasatch, calls the
routes on Sundial the nest adventure outings this side of the dividethey require a bit
of mountain sense and route-nding, and offer
fun, if not thoughtful, climbing in breathtaking
situations. Eleventh Hour climbs steep corners and faces up the North Face of the peak,
popping out on top of a 10,320-foot summit
surrounded by higher mountains, delivering
360-degree views of the Wasatch.

BETA
G E T THERE: The Mill B South trailhead is 4.4
miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon Road from
its intersection with Wasatch Boulevard.
Hike the Mill B South Trail three miles to Lake
Blanche, heading east around the lake to the
base of Sundial. Eleventh Hour begins at the
far right of the North Face. Climb the 190-foot
rst pitch on a broken quartzite face ending
at a large ledge; when the follower reaches
the ledge, move the belay 50 feet to the right.
Climb the face above in a huge left-facing
corner to a at ledge. Above the ledge, follow
nger cracks to the exposed arte, staying
right of a roof and following the arte to the
top. Scramble the south ridge to the summit.
DESCENT: From the summit, scramble east and

down toward a stand of pines. Three singlerope raps (60m is best) from slung trees drop
you at the top of the scree on the northeast
face. Scramble off the scree back to the trail.
STAY THERE: USFS Spruces Campground ($22/

night, recreation.gov, 877-444-6777)

BRET EDGE (OPPOSITE); KENNAN HARVEY

G UI D E BO O K: Rock Climbing the Wasatch

Range, by Stuart Ruckman and Brett Ruckman ($35, falcon.com)

WEST RIDGE (5.7, 4 PITCHES)

Prusik Peak, Cascade Range, Washington

A FUN RIDGE CLIMB ON ONE OF THE NORTHWESTS MOST AESTHETIC PEAKS

All most climbers need is a photo of the chiseled arrowhead of Prusik Peak for inspirationand youve
probably seen more than a few of Prusik, one of the most photogenic peaks in the Northwest. The West
Ridge climbs solid lichen-specked granite slabs, laybacks, and chimneys, keeping the route at mostly 5.5.
On the spine of the peak, youll get views of the alpine lakes and larch treeblanketed meadows in both
directions all the way up. The rst ascent party, Fred Beckey and Art Holben, named the mountain Prusik
Peak because their 1948 climb of the East Face required a lasso-and-prusik ascent of the summit horn.

BETA
G E T T H E R E: From Leavenworth, drive 0.8 miles southwest on Highway 2 and turn left onto Icicle Road. Drive
4.3 miles on Icicle Road to the Snow Lakes trailhead. Hike into a campsite at Lake Viviane (eight miles) or
Perfection Lake (nine miles) for an early start in the morning. Head northeast cross-country to the saddle
west of Prusik Peak, aiming for a large balanced rock on the West Ridge. Rope up here and stay on the left
(north) side of the ridge up to an easy 100-foot dihedral, then follow easy ledges and cracks to the ridge
proper. The crux of the climb is a 20-foot friction slab with an old pin for protection (or put in a small nut).
After the slab, cruise easy ledges to a squeeze chimney, and then scramble to the summit.
DESCENT: Four single-rope rappels (60m) or two double-rope rappels down the North Face, and then tra-

verse to Prusik Pass, and back to your campsite (Perfection or Viviane).

STAY T H ER E: Before or after the climb, try USFS Eightmile Campground ($16/night, recreation.gov, 877-

444-6777).
G UID E BO O K: Selected Climbs in the Cascades: Volume 1, by Jim Nelson and Peter Pottereld ($27, mountaineersbooks.org)
PE RMITS : Required for overnight stays in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness between June 15 and October 15;
demand is high for the Enchantments. The 2014 permit lottery began in February at recreation.gov ($6
application fee plus $5 per person per day). Or try for a day-of walk-in permit at the Wenatchee River
Ranger District Office at 7:45 a.m. the day of your trip; they give one per day.

CLIMBING.COM

| 79

Team Representative: Sierra Coyle

es
o
sh

r
gea

ories
s
s
e
c
ac

ClimbXGear.com
info@ClimbXGear.com
503.929.5360

NO SIEGE-TOPROPING.

YELL ROPE! BEFORE YOU THROW YOUR ROPE.

DOGS?
SAFEST
BET:
LEAVE
THEM AT
HOME.

Yes, even crumbs are trash.

Nature
sounds
cool
when
your
tunes
arent
blasting.
Brush all your
tick marks off
completely.
Or avoid them
altogether.

Scan for trash (and pick it up)

before you leave.

A big white X
means dont
touch.

Avoid taking over routes.

Those teeny-tiny bits of tape you just pulled

from your ngers are trash. Pack em out.
A

Essay

The
Mentorship
Gap
The way we learn to climb has evolved. The
way we mentor needs to change, too.
By Chris Noble

BE EXTRA AWARE. THE HAZARDS OF CLIMBING (ROCKFALL,

BAD BOLTS, ETC.) ARE A LOT MORE REAL OUTSIDE.

STAY ON DESIGNATED
TRAILS: SHORTCUTS CAUSE
EROSION!

Corral children in a safe area

or arrange a way to climb
without them.

Dont poop there.

Dont poop there, either.

Yell
Rock! if
you
dislodge
a rock or
drop
anything.

Stop
touching the
boulder
problem if
youre not
climbing
it.
HIKE AND SET
UP TO BELAY
ON DURABLE
SURFACES
(THAT PATCH
OF GRASS AND
WILDFLOWERS
IS NOT
DURABLE).

Accept safety
advice and
beta from other
climbers
gracefully.

SERIOUSLY, DUDE, IF YOU HAVE TO GO, BURY IT (PER LEAVE NO TRACE

GUIDELINES) OR USE THE NEAREST ESTABLISHED CRAPPER.

CLIMBING.COM

| 81

IT WAS EARLY SUMMER. Josh Moreland and his wife were climbing in Utahs Maple Canyon, which draws climbers from the ever-growing Wasatch Front, as well as road-trippers
from across the country. The Morelands had been climbing at Minimum Crag but decided
to try The Pipeline. Temps were perfect, and Pipeline is close to the road, so when they
arrived, they werent surprised to nd a crowd. Looking for routes he could onsight, Josh
chose a 5.12a called Freshly Squeezed.
There were some draws on it, and a rope was hanging through the rst two, but there
was no one at the base, he recalled. So I started pulling the rope, and as I did, I heard a
woman shouting from the far end of the crag. What the hell do you think youre doing?!
She stormed over and told me if I ever touched her rope again there would be hell to pay.
I was shocked. Id never experienced such a strong negative reaction from another climber. Then I said, as politely as I could, that I would like to climb the route, and I asked if she
would mind pulling her rope. She said, No! Im not going to pull my rope. First, Im going
to watch my friend nish her route, and then Ill come back and climb this one.
With that, she turned and walked away, and we sat down to wait. In the end, the only satisfaction was that the woman couldnt make the chains, and eventually she packed up and left.
They were from another state, and they had three or four ropes on different climbs
at The Pipeline. It was as though they laid claim to the entire crag, then were infuriated
that anyone else wanted to climb. I said I didnt know how people acted where they came
from, but this wasnt typical behavior in Utah. Albeit an extreme example, this type of
siege-cragging is an increasingly common by-product of climbings ever-expanding popularity and of the challenges we face as new climbers transition to outdoor climbing.

Record Growth
CLIMBING IS EXPERIENCING a tsunami
of growth and change unprecedented in the
sports brief history. The number of indoor
climbing gyms has doubled since 2005 (Mountain Project currently lists 884 gyms in the U.S.
and Canada). The industry trade organization,
the Climbing Wall Association, estimates that
more than 60 new climbing-specic facilities
will open in the U.S. by 2015. In fact, business
is so good that the largest wall builders are all
currently working at capacity. Theyre not even
accepting new contracts until current jobs are
completed.
Based on liability waivers, its estimated that

82 | MAY 2014

between 1,000 and 1,500 people are trying

climbing for the rst timeevery single day, in
the U.S. alone. Did you catch that? More than
1,000 rst-time climbers every day!
While 70 percent of new gym climbers say
they aspire to someday climb outdoors, many
like pro climber Nalle Hukkataivalspeculate
that due to mounting access issues, user
conicts, and general environmental impact,
a large portion of climbing areas in the world
cant support a much greater number of visitors, especially areas located close to big cities
that see the highest traffic.
The bottom line is that while we can

continue to build more gyms and introduce ever-more people to

a sport and lifestyle we all love, we cannot create more outdoor
climbing destinations than already exist in nature.
Regardless of whether you see this explosive growth as good
or bad for climbing, the tidal wave of new climbers created by the
rapid spread of indoor climbing has swiftly transformed a fringe,
counter-culture activity into a mainstream sport practiced by
millions. And the trend is not likely to reverse.
Whether you learned to climb in the 1970s wearing EBs, a
red bandana, and a rugby shirt, or youre a rising star on the local
climbing team who just turned 16, we all have a responsibility
to learn how to help climbing adapt to the times. Not only by
keeping the sport safe, but by minimizing impact on the fragile
environment in which outdoor climbing takes place.

ROADSIDE
CRAG
A CASE STUDY ON IMPACT AND
CRAG CLOSURE
Roadside was where
most of us local climbers had our rst climbing
experience, says Mike
Driskell, senior land manager for the
Red River Gorge Climbers Coalition
(RRGCC). But many climbers were
unaware it was on private property.
Then in 2011 the owners visited
on what Driskell calls the worst day
possible. Despite restrictions against
new routes or xed gear, homemade
perma-draws hung on several routes.
Every route either had multiple climbers on it or groups waiting. Dogs were
running off leash, digging holes, and
the smell of urine lled the air.
The crag was closed, effective immediately. Subsequent offers by the
RRGCC to provide funds and dialogue
(including a $5,000 restoration grant)
for climbing access were refused. As
the RRGCC states, Roadside is a
failure on our part, and on the part of
the climbing community. A failure to
address the impact and potential destruction of a wonderful crag. A lesson
we learned from and are endeavoring
to make sure never happens again.

B.G.E.
THE CHANGES IN OUR SPORT are so profound
that, in the future, climbing history may well be
divided into B.G.E. (Before the Gym Era) and
after. Before gyms, most climbers were outdoors
people, drawn to the adventure, solitude, and
renewal of wild nature. Typically, they were
hikers and backpackers who learned to climb to
broaden their experience. Before gyms, many
climbers learned by accompanying older, more
experienced mentors who, over a period of years,
showed their apprentices the ropes by imparting
the entire canon of climbing literacy, that is
holistic climbing knowledge, including safety and
technique, but with an emphasis on environmental concerns, etiquette (social norms), and climbing traditions appropriate for the region.
As Pete Ward, head of the UBC Pro Tour,
points out, The majority of climbers today
are urbanites whose rst signicant experience in nature might well be the rst time they
try climbing outdoors, and the mentor they
accompany might be a friend whose only expertise is that he or she owns a rope and enough
draws to equip a sport route.
Climbing gyms have been universally embraced

and celebrated because they offer myriad advantages to all climbers,

regardless of background or location. While it was relatively easy
for climbers who originally learned outdoors to adapt to gyms, its a
much larger challenge for gym climbers to learn the nearly innite
spectrum of knowledge, technique, and behavior necessary to
master outdoor climbing. In short, theres an education gap between
what people learn to climb safely indoors, and what they need to
learn to master outdoor climbing in all its variety.
Elaina Arenz, owner of New River Mountain Guides and a
member of the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA),
guides in West Virginias New River Gorge and Red Rock outside
Las Vegas. In Red Rock, especially at popular areas like the Black
Corridor, the Panty Wall, and the Gallery, we see large groups roll in,
and sometimes there are more dogs than people! she says. The
people are carrying on, having a great time at the expense of everyone else, making communication difficult between other climbers
and their belayers. Theyre excited to be out in nature, but theyre
simply taking their indoor experience outside and not really thinking
about other users who might want to climb the route theyre on.
Whats normal for new climbers is a controlled indoor
environment with a large group of friends and, often, a blaring
soundtrack. Having attained a high level of technical prociency
indoors, many gym climbers assume theyre already experts. They
dont realize that climbing 5.12 or bouldering V8 is only the rst
step in a lifelong apprenticeship to Mother Nature.

SUSTAINABLE CLIMBING
Go to climbing.com/sustainable to learn a few key principles that all climbers, regardless of location, experience,
or specialty, can practice in order to reduce crag impact, improve the public perception of climbers, and ensure that
climbing is an activity that we all can enjoy for generations to come.

Pros & Conf licts

GROWTH ISNT ALL BAD. More climbers mean better gyms, better coaching,
more advanced gear, and more research on training, technique, and nutrition.
Growth means increased political and economic clout. It means exciting surges in
performance. As pro climber Kitty Calhoun points out, Climbing brings meaning and happiness to our lives, and a world full of happier people is a good thing.
But, as Brian Payst of the Carolina Climbers Coalition cautions, Climbing could
become a victim of its own success.
In fact, the Access Fund considers the tidal wave of new and under-educated
climbers to be the primary issue threatening climbing access in the U.S. today.
Unless climbers as a community can address the problem, were facing everincreasing rules, regulations, nes, permitting, and closures, says Access Fund
Executive Director Brady Robinson.
In November 2013, the Access Fund sponsored a conference in New Yorks Shawangunks to discuss the issue and explore solutions. It was attended by land managers,
local climbing organizations, the gym industry, guides, outdoor educators, Leave No
Trace, pro climbers Josh Levin and Joe Kinder, and one journalistme. Perhaps more
than any other attendee, Kinder had personal skin in the game. A few weeks earlier,

Kinder had received the most intense learning experience Ive ever known.
While developing a route near Lake Tahoe, California, he cut down two trees, one
living and one dead, in order to make the route safer. They were junipersprotected
both by law and local climbing tradition. When the news hit the Internet, the public
condemnation was immediate and harsh. Kinders personal phone number was
published. He received a blitzkrieg of threats. Responding to the outcry, Kinder
wrote on his blog, I am deeply apologetic about what I did. I was wrong. Im very
sorry, and now Im using my blog, my voice, and my position in the climbing community to bring awareness to an important issue. After the conference Kinder
wrote, Most climbers I know understand you arent allowed to use a power drill in
wilderness, dont take a dump near water, and other crag etiquette, but thats as
far as it goes. We all just want to go climbing, and until recently, this has been my
approach. One of the things Ive learned is there are reasons we can go climbing in
certain areas, and maintaining access requires conscious efforts by all.
So how can the climbing community join forces to bridge the mentor gap to
create literate, aware, and informed climbers capable of sustaining and preserving
climbing for generations to come?

CLIMBING.COM

| 83

MODERN MENTEE
HOW ONE NEW ENGLAND CLIMBER LEARNED THE OLD WAYS FROM AN EX-PAT RUSSIAN
When I rst met Aleksey, I was only looking for another after-school activity. I had
been to climbing gyms a handful of times and was intrigued enough to give the sport
a try. Yet what really interested me, as a talkative 13-year-old from the Boston suburbs, was the strange Russian man who twice a day drove a van of kids to go rock
climbing. They all seemed to be having so much fun.
Aleksey Shuruyev came to the United States on August 9, 1995, in the wake of the fall of the Soviet
Union. Determined to build his own community in a faraway place, he founded the International Rock
Climbing School in 2000. It began with three students and a leased 15-passenger van. By the time I
joined in 2003, the school had two principal teams: Waimea and Alpina. The former was the competitive indoor team; the latter, a loosely dened program that served primarily as a medium for Aleksey to
impart wisdom gleaned from a lifetime spent in the mountains. Topics included outdoor ethics, glacier
skills, traditional, ice, and sport climbing, plus guitar playing and the occasional Russian language lesson. Weekend road trips to crags and mountains around New England were interspersed with tall tales
from the Soviet military and stories of far-off places with names like Elbrus and Ushba.
During my introductory class, I quickly found that I was no great talent on rock or plastic. I had
little athletic experience outside of recreational soccer and made painfully slow progress. Sensing
I had not yet caught the bug, Aleksey pulled me aside near the end of my rst year and handed me
two climbing magazines, instructing me to read them cover to cover. The next class, I was already
blathering about Steve Houses solo of K7 and speed records on the Nose. Soon thereafter, Aleksey
suggested I join Alpina.
Alpina practices were unusual, irreverent, and challenging. The crew consisted of eight high
schoolers, six boys and two girls. Twice a week, we gathered in a parking lot behind a department
store in Newton, Massachusetts, where Aleksey would give us the days plan. The adjacent urban
park contained a broken 30-foot slab of puddingstone, a small bouldering alcove, and a stagnant
pond. In this uninspiring schoolroom, we learned to place gear and set up topropes. We practiced
building Tyrolean traverses over dried riverbeds, ran laps around the pond in mountaineering boots,
and mockice climbed on a recently deceased maple tree. On weekends we would drive up to New
Hampshires White Mountains for multi-pitch or ice climbing, camping in summer heat and 0
cold snaps alike. Along the way, Aleksey watched us closely, pointing out messily tied bowlines and
insisting that we learn to put on crampons without sitting down. I was enthralled. Each class felt like
being handed a small piece of something very old and very precious. In my rst year with the team,
climbing ceased to be an activity and became the anchor around which I structured my identity.
In all of our minds, Aleksey occupied a tripartite role of skilled coach, beloved friend, and feared
demigod. He was at once the stern parent and smiling instigator. He climbed 5.13 sport routes and
grade ve alpine rst ascents in Alaskas Ruth Gorge. Over the four years I climbed with Alpina,
he showed our posse how to heel hook, drive a piton, and build a Russian-style steam bath in the
woods from scratch. His teaching could be frenetic and scattered, but it emphasized camaraderie
and resourcefulness over all.
Throughout high school, Alekseys one non-negotiable rule was that we obtain his approval
before any major trip. In my nal year with Alpina, a teammate and I intentionally neglected to
mention our plan to climb a runout three-pitch 5.12a on Cathedral Ledge in New Hampshire.
As I rounded the crux lip to the second belay, I saw a familiar face on the adjacent route. I swore
loudly. Good morning, sunshine, said Aleksey, almost expectantly. His face was furious yet proud.
Aleksey always held a special reverence for rule breakers, a trait ingrained over his many years of
cutting class to go to the mountains. Defying him was, in a sense, a sign that we had learned this,
too. But he still lectured us.
Alekseys climbing school, I understand now, is a means for him to create a microcosm of a cherished climbing tradition, one that puts community and culture at the heart of a sport. It is a school
that teaches both rules and rule-breaking as skills of climbing and living. It provides a meaningful
counterpoint to the strict risk-management rubrics of professional guiding and the new breed of
gym-based teams that focus on building athletes.
We were lucky. With climbings popularity exploding, it isnt common to nd someone with the
patience or experience to impart both the hard and soft skills of the sport. For me, mentorship
granted access to climbing not just as a skill, but as a tradition, with all the lore and myth and
camaraderie that color it. Had I not found such a mentor, I may still have fallen in love with the
sport of climbing. But I might have missed its true meaningits stories, its tradition, its morals.
All those intangibles that make one a real climber.
By Andrew Freeman
After poset-grad climbing in Europe, Freeman will start an economics consulting job in Boston.

The New
Mentors
THE PLACE TO START is in the gyms. If you
wanted to reach the climbing community 20
years ago, your best option might have been to
pin a message on the bulletin board at Camp 4.
Today nearly all the climbers in the country pass
through the gym system at some point. Gyms
are the key to reaching the masses of new and
under-educated climbers.
Our gyms are located along Utahs Wasatch
Front, so we have immediate proximity to all
these wonderful outdoor resources, says Jeff
Pedersen, part-owner and director of Momentum climbing gyms. Many of the individuals
involved heremyself, business partners, routesetters, and coachescame to the sport from
the outdoors rst, so I think when it comes to
our youth programs (and we currently have 150
kids involved at our Sandy location alone), we
feel strongly about providing solid mentorship
regarding transitioning from gym to crag. For
example, if one of our coaches takes his team to
American Fork Canyon, the rst thing he does is
talk about how everyones expected to behave.
In our experience, rst the kids get
involved, and then the parents jump on board.
Theres a general excitement, not just about
climbing, but about being part of a new community. Most people want to t in; they want
to do things respectfully with regard to the
outdoors and other people theyre sharing the
cliff with. So we help kids and parents learn
to do that.
To help educate climbers who are not team
members, Momentum partners with a guide
service to offer professional instruction for
transitioning outdoors. They also post information on their website about etiquette, lowimpact methods, and local access issues.
If gym owners need a prot motive, which
we do, Pedersen says, the way to approach
this is to leverage the enthusiasm and excitement people tap into as they learn to climb. Let
people know what they can do with these great
skills theyve learned indoors. All they need is
to sign up for the Gym to Crag class we offer, in
which we include low-impact principles and etiquette, along with technical safety instruction.
As Momentum demonstrates, the mentor
system isnt extinctits evolving. Its becoming formalized.
Coaches and gym climbing teams are todays
most important new mentors. Along with pro
climbers, they are the role models young climbers look up to.

Generation Next
JOSH LEVIN IS A 19-YEAR-OLD pro climber from California. Hes a three-time
national youth champion in sport climbing, 10-time national youth champion in
speed, and ve-time national youth champion in bouldering. During the Access
Fund conference, he gave a presentation about the ways he successfully engaged
young climbers in crag cleanups and trail building while still in high school.
Kids dont get these things yet, but they will, Levin said. They just need to
be told in the right way. Kids really do respect those who have more experience.
Tell us the proper way to behave and why. Stress the reasoning behind the words
so we can connect action to ethics.
My advice is that anyone who cares about this issue gets involved with youth
climbing of all sorts. Find an after-school program that encourage outdoor trips

stressing proper ethics. Contact local high schools, set up extracurricular climbing events. Sponsor outdoor events. Reach out to colleges; partner with outdoor
clubs. Target young climbers coming to the gym. In my experience, younger
climbers are much more willing to hear about and engage in proper outdoor ethics than their older [18 to 25] counterparts.
Mike Morin, former outdoor recreation manager for Jefferson County Open
Space in Colorado (which includes the popular Front Range climbing destination
Clear Creek Canyon), emphasized Joshs recommendations.
In my experience as a land manager, the best approach is to involve kids in
experiential learning, said Morin. When we take kids out trail building, they
continually have aha moments, and they express that.

Mirror, Mirror
READING THIS, older climbers who have been
climbing much of their lives (such as myself)
are probably thinking, Right on. Lets just teach
these young punks how to behave.
Some people think the problem is young
climbers, says Robinson. But thats not the
case. There are bad actors from all eras. My own
generation provided its share of damage, but
there were fewer of us, and we were more isolated. Today, participant numbers are increasing
rapidly, and so are the negative impactsso we
all need to clean up our acts.
Clearly theres a certain amount of shock
seeing a 14-year-old warm up on the project
youve been working all summer, adds Pedersen. And if you have a lot of ego, you are immediately at odds with that kid. Youre going to
nd things to criticize about his or her behavior
no matter how well behaved they are.
Whatever your experience or conscientiousness level, we all have impact. Simply walking to
the crag adds to soil compaction and trail erosion.
Each of us contributes to sanitation issues, noise,
and over-crowding. Our very presence stresses
wildlife. The emphasis here on educating young
climbers is not because they are unduly responsible, but because they are our greatest hope.
Educators, land managers, and coaches all
suggest that kids ages 10 to 18 are the most
open to learning and the most likely to integrate

environmental awareness into their lives.

Listening to Tracy Howard and Kate
Bullock, members of the Leave No Trace Road
Team, discuss low-impact practices for climbers at the conference, I realized with some
embarrassment that there was more I could be
doing. Ive been pooping in the woods for more
than 30 years, smugly thinking I had it dialed,
but they made me realize my approach could
use some updating.
In fact, the entire conversation in the Gunks
made me realize how easy it is to point ngers
and blame others, while blissfully ignoring ones
own role. As Kinder pointed out, most of us just
want to climb. Climbing is our escape from the
worlds problems. The last thing we want is to
be confronted with the inconvenient truth that
our beloved sport is changing, and we are all
going to have to change with it.
Yes, there was a time, not so very long ago,
when there were far fewer climbers and it
was OK to bring your dog (and your neighbors
dog) with you to the crag. Yes, there was a
time when it didnt really bother anyone if you
brought your entire posse with you to boulder
or siege-toprope. But in light of rising numbers,
its time to take a look in the mirror and ask
ourselves: What can I personally do to reduce
my own impact, and to make climbing a better
experience for everyone?

The rst step is to become more aware.

I remember helping develop a crag in Logan Canyon [Utah]
thats now quite popular, and I remember how beautiful it was
when we rst discovered it, with grass and wildowers growing
everywhere, said Doug Heinrich, vice president of product for
Black Diamond Equipment and a lifelong climber. But if you go
there today, its all bare, compacted earth. Not a blade of grass or
ower in sight. That really bummed me out. But the point is, climbers dont even know whats been lost when they visit new areas.
Unless you see before and after photos, you have no idea what sort
of impact climbers cause. In fact, if you go to Maple Canyon these
days, the message you receive is that its alright to bring your dogs,
your loud music, and throw your stuff everywhere, so its important
that brands like Black Diamond help create a counter-message to
mitigate those impacts.
The good news is that the education gap in climbing can be
bridged. But its going to require a concentrated effort on behalf of
all climbersindividuals, local climbing organizations, the Access
Fund and the American Alpine Club, the gym industry, guides,
educators, parents, coaches, and major climbing brands like Black
Diamondworking together to do so. Its time to stop pointing
ngers. Its not new climbers, gym rats, traddies, or boulderers
causing the problems; its all of us. Were all climbers, and were all
equally responsible, both for the problems and the solutions. //

Chris Noble, a novice climber for more than 30 years, is hoping

to successfully complete his transition from the crag to the gym.
His most recent book is Women Who Dare: North Americas Most
Inspiring Women Climbers.

CLIMBING.COM

| 85

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THE FLOW

Should you let that rando belay you?

BY KEVIN CORRIGAN

YOURE AT THE CRAG. Youre tied in. Youre ready to climb. At that very moment, your belayers breakfast burrito comes back with a
vengeance. He runs off to take care of business (using LNT practices, of course). Across the crag, a lone climber spots you. He sprints
at full speed, brandishing a belay device, and yelling, Need a belay? You do, but should you let this random person belay you?

ARE YOU WITH ANYONE ELSE WHO

COULD BELAY YOU?
Yes. Im with a
large group of
friends.

Assess his mental state. Does he smell like weed, is he wearing a

Bob Marley T-shirt, or are there any other signs that he might be
intoxicated?

He does have
dreadlocks.

Work on your boulder project until

your partner gets back.

Why are you even considering this?

Climb with your friends.

He has gym belay

cards dangling from
his harness, but this
seems like his rst
time outside.

Hes here every

weekend
lapping 5.14s.

We all had to start somewhere.

Consider taking this rando under
your wing. He could use a mentor.

Is this person Alex

Honnold?
I wish.

No.

Does he have his

own gear?

He addressed
me as Guy
with the rope.

Hes as alert
as a shot of
espresso.

Have you ever seen this

person before?

Multi-pitch
trad

Youve
got to be
kidding.

Yes.
Toprope
Thats
awesome!

I know!

Sport

Climb with Alex Honnold.

88 | MAY 2014

What kind of route are we

talking about here?

His harness
shimmers with
the light of
1,000 cams.

Get to know him and come back

another day. Remember: Randos are
just friends you dont trust yet.

Give the rando a shot, but

only after youre confident
he knows what hes doing
and youve agreed on belay
commands.

Paige Claassen on a rare female ascent of the Americas first 5.14, To Bolt or Not to Be, at Smith Rock, OR - Photo: Rich Crowder

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