News…
- Somewhat under the radar these days, Jon Cardwell has had himself a nice summer over in Europe. On a rope he did Biographie (5.14c) in Ceuse, and on the boulders he recently did the 4th ascent of The Bitter End (V14) at Fionnay, Switzerland. Read more at the Five Ten blog here and here.
Jon Cardwell – The Bitter End (V14)
- Adam Ondra did the 2nd ascent of Markus Bock’s Der Heilige Gral (5.14d, 2nd try) in the Frankenjura, Germany. In the past 12 months young Ondra has done 11 5.14d’s or harder with a lifetime total of 22! Not bad considering he has yet to reach his 17th birthday.
- European sport climbers are really, really strong.
- Paul Robinson seems to have lost his way in life. A top boulderer known for his dedication to solely bouldering, Paul recently admitted to sending a 5.14a sport route in Clear Creek Canyon…during the prime alpine bouldering season. What started as a flirtation with bolted 5.14d boulder problems has turned into a dangerous habit…
…And Notes
- Chris Sharma hasn’t been making much news on the real rock lately, but he did win the Salewa Rock Award at the recent Arco Rock Legends. He also took 3rd place at the Durango Climbing Masters competition.
- The 2009 Reel Rock Tour kicked off last week, and the winners of the 2009 Reel Rock Filmmaking Contest were announced. Winning in the humor category for the 2nd straight year was Spencer Victory with his “Spraylords”. “Do What You Like” won in the action category and “Pose Age 38” was the judges choice selection. Seems about right to me. You can see these shorts, as well as the premiers of Progression and First Ascent: The Series when the tour makes a stop near you (October 12th for those of us near Adventure Rock).
- The El Cap Report has returned just in time for the Fall season on the Big Stone
- An excellent breakdown of a recently (over) hyped aid climb in the Fisher Towers
- Patagonia ends relationships with SIGG Water Bottles after SIGG misleads about BPA content, somewhat misuses Chouinard image
- The Access Fund and the SCC recently closed on the purchase of a cliffline near Steele, AL that I first reported about back in March. Read all about it at Access Fund, Rock & Ice or DPM.
- The North Face launches a new website Planet Explore
- As a computer dork, this is very cool.
- You can now vote your approval of all the videos in the Videos section on the ClimbingNarc.com homepage. Check it out.
