Earlier this month, Neil Chelton, Ross Kain and Andy Kirkpatrick attempted the second ascent of the Russian Direttissima (EX: 5.10- 100 degrees, 1800m, Arkhipov-Dmitrienko-Malygin-Tsyganov, 2006) on the Eiger’s north face, and produced this video. They turned back in warm conditions on the A5 pitch…
An exciting video of Steph Davis and Mario Richard BASE jumping and then climbing a Steve Hong and Steve Carruthers’ route, Glad To Be A Trad (5.13a, 50m), in Canyonlands National Park, Utah. According to Desert Rock: Rock Climbing in the National Parks, written by Eric Bjornstad, the line climbs a right-facing dihedral to a thin crack on the upper face of the canyon wall.
Aerial footage of Dawn Glanc and Tim Emmett climbing in Iceland’s West Fjord gives us a new perspective on big ice routes. The wide-angle lens of the hovering aircraft shows the full context of the climb–the coast, turf houses, treeless landscape and snow-covered roads–not just the up-and-down views of typical climbing films. Within this setting, the two climbers look almost insignificant.
While the design looks too strange to be functional, and the price tag steep, I have to admit the performance of this odd shape signals a notable advance in ice axe technology.
Each year, the Everest situation comes under greater scrutiny, with new stories of crowds and deaths and with new allegations of climbers lacking compassion for each other…. Each person’s choice of style is his or her own, a decision that has to do with highly personal variables. Regardless of how we feel about the use of various aids, the people who stand atop these peaks still take each step themselves.
