>> October - November
2003
Australian Women’s
Standards Rise
Within one week, Monique Forestier pushed Australian women’s
climbing not once, but twice at the Alien’s Domain cliff at the Blue
Mountain. First up was Mission to Mars 5.13d, a variation of Pigs in Space,
which took Forestier eight days of work. Garth Miller flashed the first
ascent and the grade was confirmed. Not fully satisfied, Forestier immediately
set to work on Intergalactic Lactic Spastic 5.14a, a route first done by
Nathan Hoette which shares the start of Mission to Mars but has an even
tougher finish. After three days, Forestier succeeded in pushing Australian
women’s standards two grades with what photographer Simon Carter called
“a perfectly executed redpoint.”
Spanish Phenom Climbs
9a in a Day
By sending Kinematix at the Gorges du loup in France in a day, Edouardo
Marin Garcia has done what is probably the fastest ascent of a 9a or 5.14d
yet. Originally put up by Christian Bindhammer, Kinematix is a link up of
two 5.14bs, Total Eclatch and Honk. Clearly on form, Garcia also tied for
third place with the reigning world cup champion Alex Chabot at this year’s
prestigious Masters Invitational at Serre Chevlier in France. Although frequently
overshadowed by his slightly more accomplished training partner Ramon Julian
Puigblanque, with this performance, Garcia, still only 17, is serving notice
that he is ready to step into the limelight of climbing’s elite.
Lamiche Does South Africa
Just as he did at Bishop, California, Tony Lamiche arrived at Rocklands,
South Africa, and promptly repeated any testpieces established by Fred Nicole
and Klem Loskot. During his brief visit, Lamiche quickly repeated Nutsa
and Tai Chi V12, as well as Oral Office, Black Eagle, and Armed Response,
all V13. Most impressive of all, however, was Lamiche’s flash of Au
bord de l’eau V11 and Leopard Cave V13. One plum, Fred Nicole’s
Black Eagle with sit start V15, remains unplucked due to a broken hold.
World Championship Action
The biannual world championship took place this summer at Chamonix,
France. For many competitors, this was the most important event of the year,
and all the preparations were geared towards peaking on this one day. The
bouldering events came first, with the French and the Italians continuing
to dominate. Jerome Meyer of France and Christian Core of Italy engaged
in a closely fought battle, with both completing five of six problems. Ultimately,
Core prevailed, taking one less attempt than Meyer to complete the problems.
On the women's side, Sandrine Levet had no such rivals, cruising to victory.
In the difficulty event, Muriel Sarkany of Belgium collected the last major
title to elude her, and in the process denied Sandrine Levet's bid for the
unprecedented double title. The biggest news on the men's side was that
Alex Chabot of France, who has dominated recent world cups, did not win.
In an uncharacteristic mistake, Chabot lunged for a poor hold, overshot
it and lost his balance, which ended his bid for the title and eventually
settled for fifth. This left the door open for Thomas Mrazek, who climbed
far above the rest of the field, clinched victory in commanding fashion.
The other revelation of the competition was Patxi Usobiaga of Spain, who
claimed a surprise second. Usobiaga, though well known for his hard redpoints,
was a relative unknown on the competition circuit. The shake-up at the top
tier of the men's field continued two weeks later at the Masters Invitational
in Serre Chevalier, with Mrazek victorious, Usobiaga second and Chabot third.
The resumption of the second half of the World Cup season promises to be
interesting, as the pool of contenders deepens and Chabot fights to retain
his lead.
Correspondent: Andre Cheuk
Mike Doyle First
Canadian to Flash 5.14
In late August, while returning from Salt Lake City’s PCA bouldering
comp, Mike Doyle and fellow Canadian Sean McColl arrived in Maple Canyon,
Utah, with one idea in mind. Mike wanted to flash Millennium, 5.14a; a route
friends had suggested suited his climbing style. Sean sent it on his third
go, and fellow Canadian Sacha Deschenes had sent it the day before. Mike
gleaned all the beta he could and following a rest day, fought off nervousness
and climbed the route perfectly. “It was almost disgusting how familiar
the moves felt after visualizing them.” Mike explained to Gripped.
“Millennium is a fairly long route that goes out a roof with good holds,
lots of opportunity to shake and rest, then a fairly hard sequence near
the end.” As for the grade, Mike, a typically modest Canadian said,
“I think it is soft for 14a, but it is hard to tell. I was definitely
tired at the top, which is all I can ask for from a route. There is a 13d
there called Wyoming Sheep Shagger that was hard for me and I thought it
was definitely 13+ and everyone seems to think that Millennium is harder,
so maybe 5.14?”
Harry Sends Zazen,
Squamish’s New V14
In late July, 17-year-old Harry Robertson from Evanston, Illinois,
put up and repeated many of the hardest problems in Squamish. The hardest
is the first ascent of Zazen V13/14, which starts on beautiful granite edges
on a severely steep wall, and has about eight moves of brilliant, intense
climbing on spaced edges and slopers before climbing right into the start
of Gibb's Cave. Robertson sent The Proposal (V12/13) last year, and felt
Zazen was a step harder. Of other note were his ascents of When Harry Met
Sally V12 FA, as well as Siddhartha V11, which were both completed with
little work. Harry managed a few other difficult sends like Primal Urge
hard V10, Defender of the Faith V9/10 four tries, Night Crawler V9 two tries.
So Harry is definitely a man to watch on the boulders.
Rites of Passage
Repeated but WI8 Grade Still Under Debate
At the end of June Greg Thaczuk, Eamonn Walsh and Ben Firth decided
to try Rites of Passage on Mt Kitchener in the Alberta Rockies. This route
was established by Eric Dumerac and Phillip Tronc Pellet and had a rumoured
WI8 crux. Firth says, “We quickly climbed the lower 800 m section of
the route in about three hours to the base of the difficult serac barrier.
We looked thoroughly into the frequency of calving of the serac barrier
before committing to the route. Moving fast and having a consistent awareness
is essential.” Firth ran together the two WI8 pitches into one. A 15m
WI3 approach led to a 15-20m 110 degree ice wall. It took about two hours
of climbing. “On at least five occasions my feet cut out over the 800m
air below,” commented Firth.
There has certainly been a lot of discussion about whether the cruxes are
WI8 as they were originally rated. Firth said, “The ice is the most
physically difficult I have ever climbed on an alpine or ice route but it
wasn’t psychologically tough. This begs the question of whether WI
grades should be based strictly on physical effort or also on psychological
factors.” Firth modestly added that he had only climbed two ice routes
last winter and is “hardly an expert on the subject.” So, who
knows? Without a doubt, this route will see many ascents because of the
lower section’s moderate nature and the security through the crux.
More discussions among ascensionists will hopefully clear the controversial
grade once and for all.
New 5.14a near
Sherbrooke.
Mathieu Fontaine struck again with the first ascent of Nibars 5.14a
in the Eastern Townships. This route is a new variation of La Muerte 5.13d.
It starts with a V10 bouldering crux then finishes left after a section
of four consecutive knee-bars that inspired the name of the route). Nibars
is the fourth.5.14a in Québec. The others are Prémutation
(La Pocatière), Cassiopée (Mt-Baldi) and Victory 13d-14a,
the right variation of La Muerte. All these routes were first linked by
Mathieu Fontaine. Unfortunately, after a discussion with new routers and
local climbers, we decided not to reveal the location of Nibars because
of access problems.
Most of La Pocatière’s new lines have been first ascended by
local climber Samuel Lavoie. La Pocatière is also an incredible bouldering
site with a new V9, L’extracteur à jus, and a new V10, La four
des roches, both cranked by Jacob Desrape. Last, but not least, after 4
days of work, Antoine “Canardo” Séguin of Montréal
linked together the 15 moves of Prémutation 5.14a for its fifth ascent.
Correspondent: Jean-Do Saudan
Aaron Earle Browne
1980-2003
On July 15, 2003, Aaron Earle Browne, 23, of Calgary fell to his death while
attempting to climb Mt Lorette in Kananaskis Provincial Park. He was alone
at the time, and his body was not discovered until the next day, after his
family had reported him missing. Assisted by a helicopter search, conservation
officers on the ground found his body at the bottom of a scree slope, and
it is thought that he fell 70 m to his death.
Though Aaron had only climbed for a couple of years, his life and death
made quite an impact on the local climbing community. He was an employee
of the Calgary Climbing Centre, and when he wasn’t instructing, coaching
or belaying, he would often be found bouldering in the cave, or working
a route in the back of the gym. In fact, it was rare not to see his primer-gray
Volkswagon van parked outside the CCC. On days off, he would do everything
possible to get out climbing, and whether it was an evening after work at
Heart Creek or an epic road trip to Joshua Tree, he had a keenness and determination
that would make it happen. He was willing to share his passion for the outdoors
and climbing with everyone. In fact, some of his family’s final memories
of Aaron are of a family camping trip, organized by Aaron. The trip included
him putting up topropes for his younger siblings and belaying for them as
they experienced outdoor climbing for the first time.
Aaron will be remembered for his warm smile and positive attitude. A good
friend commented that whether he was on belay, or just someone to talk to,
there was a sense of security that put his friends at ease. It was never
a poor experience to climb with Aaron; even on the poorest of days. He had
a contagious optimism that would keep his friends from retreating because
of weather, injuries, or because a breakdown had turned their single day
of driving into three. Aaron will truly be missed, and while we regret his
passing, we know that our lives were enriched through knowing him.
Adam Baranec
