Wild Country is issuing a voluntary recall on certain batches of Helium carabiners delivered after July 15, 2012 and quickdraws that include these carabiners. The wire gate on these carabiners may not engage the nose hook, reducing the carabiner's gate-closed strength.
In November, Chris Weidner of Boulder made the first free ascent of Centaur (5.13c) on the Redgarden Wall in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado. “Centaur is a spectacular and varied route on the right side of the prow of Tower Two, which parallels the last pitches of the Naked Edge (5.11b, 6 pitches) and Diving Board (5.11a, 4 pitches),” wrote Weidner on Mountain Project.
Jean-Pierre "PeeWee" Ouellet has established himself as one of the top crack climbers in the world. In recent years, he has put up a slew of hard 5.13/5.14 jamming testpieces such as the first free ascents of Necronomicon (5.13d/14a) and La Zebree (5.14a). This month, PeeWee, 34, has freed another crack classic with the first ascent of Mexican Snow Fairy (5.13+) outside of Moab, Utah.
The Canmore climber Will Gadd took first place in the men's division and Stephanie Maureau of France won in women's at the Bozeman Ice Breaker Competition this past weekend. Gadd, 45, had retired from competitive climbing to focus on first ascents of big ice routes such as his recent Spray On.
If you’re reading this chances are that you’re not Alex Honnold, Tommy Caldwell, or a Sasha Digiulian. You’re probably just another slob who wants to be one of those great climbers. Well there are two ways to become that good at climbing: 1: Climb 60 hours a week for 20 years with special attention on diet and high intensity training. 2: Learn how to make yourself sound like one of those climbers. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Climbing's best-known author, pioneer and original Stonemaster, John Long was seriously injured on November 29 at the Rockreation climbing gym in Los Angeles when his bowline came untied and he fell to the floor, suffering a compound fracture to his lower left leg/ankle. The 55-year-old climber was transported to a local hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.
Check out Björn Pohl's author page.
A little more than a year ago, after years of projecting, James Kassay, 27, of Australia, repeated Dai Koyamada's 65+-move-monster The Wheel of Life.
Interviews with five climbers living and working their dream jobs.