News From the North::

Bouldering:

At Gold Rush, Marijus Smigelkis repeated Leap of Faith (7C), Julia Chen sent Wallace (7A) and Donovan Willis opened Static Remedy (7B) and The Weatherman (7B). At Malelane Gorge, an excellent new area, Donovan opened Waterboy (7A) and Marijus opened The Railway (7A). Later at Kaapsehoop, Marijus repeated Living the Dream (7C), and then opened Dark Wing (8A) an amazing high arête - Edvinas Smigelskis then made the 2nd ascent on his very next go. Julia sent Smell of Victory (7A).

At The Glade, Julia Chen sent the second ascent of The Fingernail Traverse (7A) and Marijus got the 2nd ascent of Lucky Larry's Larder of Lascivious Lesbians (7C+).

Julia Chen sent Skunk (7B) at TDA after three or four sessions on the problem. The classic line was opened by Justin Hawkins and was the first 7B in the area.

Donovan Willis has been busy in Mpumalanga, developing yet another area. He has opened Killswitch (7C) among several other problems in the Sabie Gorge.

National Boulder League Finals: see article elsewhere in the issue

Sport:
Andrew Pedley has opened Beast (31) but says the grade needs confirming. The rampage continues as Andrew sent Storm Watch (32). Andrew has now ticked the hardest routes at all major Joburg crags: Fernkloof, Chosspile and 'Boven.

Simon Lowe visiting from Durban made his presence felt with a slue of sends: including Bully (28), Snap Dragon (29) second go, Jack of all trades (30) and Hypertension (30). The visit culminated in a red-point of Jabberwocky (33)
 
Also in ‘Boven, Clinton Martinengo squeezed in a repeat of The Beast (grade to be confirmed)

Other news is that Nadine Methner was also out n about, sending Tripolactic Fairytails (27),  
Wesley Black (just 16yrs) fired Bully (28), and he flashed Grimslade (26) on the same day! Visiting Durbanite, Benjamin de Charmoy flashed Snapdragon (29), as did James Smith (aka Jimbo)!! Jimbo went on to easily red-point Monster (29), with the route seeing another quick ascent Stephan Tillemans.
Roger Natrass is aging well – he added Monster to his years sends, which include Static Patterns (29), Phantom of the Opera (28+), Faberge (28) and Electromagnet (28) - all repeats coming roughly 18 years after the first ascents!

Naureen (never lets go) Goheer sent the top half of Butterfly (27) and went on to tick Hell Yeah (27), which is now free of loose grips…apparently.
Andrew Pedley opened Freak-on (24).

Steve Bretherick sent Lotter’s Desire (28), Hell Yeah (27), and The Gift (27). Anthony Hall sent Lawyers, Guns and Money (27) at Fern Kloof, and over Easter also did Lotter’s Desire (28) at Boven, getting both ascents on his second go. Colin Crabtree sent Glass Menagerie (27), at The Chosspile

Herman Lombard visited up North, and left having on-sighted Lawyers guns and money (27) and Vandals (direct) (27). In ‘Boven he red-pointed Panty Slap (28) second go.

Eastern Cape:

The trad scene has been quite active – over 40 new routes were opened by, among others, Derek Marshal and Gavin Peckham.

Bouldering:
Martin Renz visited Hogsback where he opened Appleseed (7B+) on the Stone Tear boulder (Project # 6), Alicedale where he added Sticky reality (7B/7B+), Damanamanzi (7A+) among others.

In March a new area was developmed with Candy Cave (7B), Mp3 (7A+) and High Winds (7A) being a few of the FA’s.

Western Cape:

Bouldering:
Shaun Harris made the 4th ascent of Swim Coach (7C+) at the Classroom.

Shaun Miles, Dom Riordan and Greg Streatfield all sent Dominaphix (7B+)

The Classroom has seen a lot of chalk and footprints lately. Dom Riordan extended Fromage et Baguette to create Dikfer (7C) and Greg Streatfield got the 5th ascent of Swim Coach (7C+). Dom and Shaun Harris both repeated the campus/slam-dunk/dyno U19 Girls Basketball (7B+ / 7C). Marijus Smigelskis finally managed to link the starting crux of Swim Coach into U19 Girls Basketball to create DPR (8A). Clinton Martinengo made a fast repeat of the problem confirming the grade.

Out at Redhill Dom Riordan made the first ascent of Witness the Fatness (7B+) on the Dark Lord Sharon Boulder, and Greg Streatfield quickly got the second ascent just a couple minutes later. Greg also repeated A Twist of Kane (7B). Thorsten Becker and Shaun Miles both sent Baby Fingers (7A+). Shaun also sent Dark Lord Sharon (7A).

Out in Rocklands, Shaun Harris sent Born into Struggle (7C) and Shift Horizons (7C) both at the Plateau Boulders, De Pakhuis. Also at the Plateau boulders, Shaun, Dom and Greg sent Model Robber (7B).

At Topside Shaun has been quite busy wrapping up a number of the 7B classics, including Memento, Flubber, Riptide, Bisto and Bubka. Dom also sent Memento.

Marijus Smigelskis made a quick send of Louder than Bombs (7C). Emile Esterhuizan has established Koeberg (8A+), to the right of Powerlines at Bonnydoon in Topside. The problem is only 6 moves long (excluding the easy top out) which makes it far more intense than Cape Town's two other 8A+ problems, Ard Ay and Boogie Nights, both 14+ move roof voyages.

Sport:
Karen Varga sent Factor 15 (29) in Rocklands, and Naureen Goheer finally found the perfect red-point conditions at The Mine: in the rain on a thunder stormy afternoon with 99% humidity, for an overdue ascent of A Gift of Wings (28). She then went on to send Johnny Rotten (27) in Oudtshoorn and Dragonfly (26) at Silvermine Main.

Oudtshoorn saw some activity over the long weekends in May. Marc Efune red-pointed Up for Grabs (32), and then he even had some juice left to try Mama Africa (32)!! Ant Hall red-pointed El Nino (30). Gosia Lipinska sent Johnny Rotten (27) Paws (26) and is currently on El Nino (30).

Finally, it seems like the Cape saw its final 2008 Montague Rock Rally, due to a so-called lack of entrants in this year’s event. Aprox. 30 people entered and some great heights ware achieved, no pun intended. See article in this issue for results and pics.

International News:

Greater Ranges:
An Italian-Spanish duo has added a new variation on the west face of Ama Dablam (6812m), in the Khumbu region of Nepal. Francesco Fazzi and Santiago Padrós climbed Free Tibet 2065(1,500m, V+ M5+ 80°) in two days, with a descent via the peak’s normal route on the southwest ridge during the third day. 

The Olympic torch reached the summit of Mt.Everest (8848m), on the morning of May 8, 2008. The ascent marks the first time the torch has made an ascent of the world’s tallest peak, a promise that China made when they bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games. Controversy abounds.

North America:

Bouldering:
In February, Dean Potter established two 40-foot-long boulder problems around Moab, Utah. Potter climbed Zen Garden, a splitter sandstone endurance roof crack that ranges from hand to tips in size. A scary Highball, 20 feet high, and is right above a tree that would probably catch you right in the ribs if you fell. As usual Potter did not grade his climb. "I'm six-foot-six so things are different for me,"...

Sport:
Joe Kinder has completed Golden Direct (5.14c/d) [SA35/36] at the Cathedral near St. George, Utah. The 90-foot limestone route adds a direct start to Golden while eliminating that route’s sit-down rest, to create a power-endurance route with about 50 moves. 

The Fly, a short 5.14+ (32ish) route or V14 boulder problem in Rumney, New Hampshire, has seen two quick repeats, including the second bouldering ascent and the second one-day ascent of the climb.

Trad:
Joe Puryear climbed 32 desert towers in a month during early spring. Visiting Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada Joe ticked desert tower after desert tower...from 5.4 (SA 12) conglomerate to 5.10C R (SA 20 R).

Alex Honnold, completed one of the most impressive free solos ever achieved—Moonlight Buttress (V 5.12+, 9 pitches, 1,200') (SA25), Zion National Park, Utah—in an extraordinary eighty-three minutes. Honnold free-soloed the route having rehearsed the climb four times solo with a spool of fixed static line and a mini-traxion.

Steph Davis has free soloed The North Face route (5.11a, SA19) on Castleton Tower, Castle Valley, Utah. She then proceeded to BASE jump from the summit.

Winter Routes:
Jon Bracey and Matt Helliker recently completed (to within 100m) a previously attempted line on The Moose's Tooth, Alaska. Their ascent of the previously unclimbed East face failed to reach the true summit, due to dangerous overhanging seracs. The pair felt satisfied calling the new climb a "modern route".

In less than ten days Audrey Gariepy, Caroline George, Jen Olson, Innes Papert and Jon Walsh blasted ten remote ice (up to WI6) and mixed (up to M12) routes, likely all new, in Icefall Brook canyon, Canadian Rockies. The group used a helicopter to access the remote area.

Europe:

Bouldering:
Dave Graham has completed a longstanding project at Fontainebleau’s Coquibus Rumont area. The Island (8C). In late March, Graham also repeated Khéops Assis, the sit start to the famous 8A+ problem Khéops at Cuvier Rempart in Fontainebleau. Khéops Assis is usually rated 9A, but Graham felt it must be easier, since, after trying the first move one day in wet conditions, he sent the problem the next day with only four tries

Sport:
Natalija Gros has red-pointed Histerija, (8c+) [SA35] route at Misja Pec in Slovenia. The 23-year-old Slovenian woman began working on the route late last autumn but had to stop for winter; she returned to the climb at the beginning of March.

Winter Routes:
Two Slovenian climbing teams have been busy in the French Alps during the winter. Andrej Grmovsek and Marko Lukic on-sighted the Dru North Couloir Direct (VI 6+ M8 700m) and Tina Di Batista and Tomaz Jakofcic free climbed Late to Say I Am Sorry (V 5+ VI A2, 1000m) and Reve Ephemere d'Alpiniste (V 5 6a A2, 800m) as well as the Dru North Couloir Direct.

Less than a month after Simon Anthamatten and Roger Schali broke the team record on the Eiger Nordwand, Daniel Arnold and Stephan Ruoss of Switzerland have done it again. Bettering Anthamatten and Schali by forty minutes, their ascent from the bottom of the Heckmair Route (ED2, 1800m, 1938) to the top of the Eiger (3970m) took 6 hours, 10 minutes. Little ice, and recent snow made the going tough, filling in cracks, including the Difficult Crack, one of the more delicate rock and snow sections low on the Heckmair. Starting at 1:35 a.m, three hours later were at the Death Bivouac. They made up some time on the Ramp and cruised through the more demanding sections above, using a rope from the Stollenloch to the top. Having battled strong winds to climb the Exit Cracks, they reached the Mittelegi Ridge as the first sun broke that morning, February 23. They summited at 7:45 a.m. The last two seasons have produced uncanny Eigerwand speed ascents that have decimated records from just over a year ago.
Ueli Steck, the famed Eiger speed ascensionist, broke last year's solo record (4:40) with a time of 3:54 in February 2007, then blasted the Heckmair again this season for the fastest time ever: 2:47:33.

Japan:

Bouldering:
Japan’s Yuji Hirayama, has focused on bouldering at home this spring, with impressive results. On April 15, Hirayama made the third ascent of the Dai Koyamada endurance problem Uma(V14/9A)  at Shiobara. Less than a week later, Hirayama completed a 13-move problem at Kanoto, near Tokyo, that he has been trying for the past two years. Hirayama called the problem Ginga and rated it 5-dan minus. The Japanese bouldering scale is based on martial arts levels; dan, or black belt, levels begin around V7. The grade of 5-dan minus is approximately V14/9a. 

Winter Routes:
Albert Leichtfried and Markus Bendler travelled to Japan in search of new ice climbing venues. During their two week exploration, they made the first ascent of Lector (WI7, 3 pitches, 80m) at Chiyoshibetu, Hokkaido, as well as sending some existing routes: Nairu (WI6) and Runzee III (WI5). Japan's hardest mixed climbing crag with grades up to M9+ also got a tick.