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Rock Climbing News - January 2012
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Tuesday, 31 January 2012Two previously tried projects on China's famous Siguniang (6,250m) received first ascents, both in fine alpine-style.
On the south face Chinese alpinists Sun Bin and Li Zhongli completed Liberation (1,100m: AI3+ and M4), a line that slants through the 1992 Japanese south buttress to finish up the south-west ridge.
Li and Sun are two of China's new breed of alpinists, attemp ting technical new routes on their home ground in alpine-style. For Sun climbing this new route was a matter of perseverance.
He first tried the line in October 2006 but didn't get onto the face as rockfall proved too dangerous. Two years later he was back, this time in the colder month of November. Unfortunately, having reached 5,700m, an incoming storm forced him down.
With Li and two others he returned in 2009 for a third time and on this occasion was able to force the line through to the south-west ridge. Continuing up the crest, strong winds and incipient frostbite drove the pair down from 6,100m.
However, unknown to these two was an attempt on a similar line in 2006 by the guide Philippe Batoux and a group of young alpinists organized by the French Alpine Club. This group fixed 500m of rope on the first section, then took a different line to the right of the eventual Chinese route, reaching the south-west ridge but turning back at a precarious, horizontal, rocky section above 6,000m.
Sun's fourth attempt (and Li's second) late last year was successful. The pair bivouacked immediately below the bergschrund at 5,150m and next day climbed to the crest of the south-west ridge at 5,900m.
A strong wind pinned them down in this comfortable camp all next day, but at 4:00am the morning after, they left camping equipment and travelled light to the summit, reaching it after sections of ice to 60°, three mixed pitches, and a tricky traverse of a sharp ridge. They were able to return to their top bivouac the same day.
On the summit they discovered a commodious snowhole, dug by two young French climbers, who had made a fine new route on the north-west face a little earlier.
Although first climbed by Japanese in 1981, Siguniang really came into the public eye after Mick Fowler and Paul Ramsden's ascent of the north couloir in 2002. To the right of this and the large rock buttress subsequently climbed by Russians, a spur rises towards mixed ground below the upper southwest ridge.
This spur was the scene of the first attempt on the northern side of the mountain. In 1981 a strong American team, comprising Jim Donini, Kim Schmitz, Jim Kanzler and Jack Tackle attempted the route in semi-alpine-style but turned back below 5,500m.
It was attempted again in 2004 by Dave Hollinger and Andy Sharpe, who found bad conditions and retreated after a few pitches of Scottish 3/4.
Maël Baguet and Dimitri Messina completed the line to the upper south-west ridge, reached the summit and descended the north ridge, the same route of descent used by Fowler and Ramsden.
The two French completed the route in a five day round trip from base camp (three bivouacs on the mountain), naming it Ni Hen Piao Liang (1,300m: 5 and M6), which means "you are very beautiful" in Chinese.
source: www.thebmc.co.uk
Monday, 30 January 2012Suunto, the brand leader in functional outdoor instruments, announces the launch of the AMBIT, the first true GPS watch for Explorers.
The Suunto AMBIT is what every backcountry skier, hiker, trail runner and mountain climber has been eagerly waiting for — a watch that combines a GPS navigation system, altimeter, 3D compass with advanced heart rate monitoring into a robust instrument f or mountain and everyday use.
"I can't wait to get my hands on the AMBIT," comments Ueli Steck, the record-breaking Swiss climber. "The product concept is amazing and for me, it's the perfect tool to train in the mountains and record my speed ascents. It has everything a mountain athlete could want — heart rate function for training, barometer for weather forecasting, altimeter for navigation and logging vertical gain and best of all, a GPS for location and an accurate trace. It's great for everything I do, whether training with speed, distance and heart rate or for proving my climbing records."
Specific Outdoor Functionality
With AMBIT´s full-featured GPS the user can choose waypoints to navigate with and see their location in multiple coordinate systems. The AMBIT boasts a host of other features including temperature, track logging, unique 3D Compass and barometric sensor. All these keep you informed of your location, altitude and weather conditions on your adventures.
Advanced Training Functionality
The AMBIT also offers functions for the serious mountain athlete. The patent pending accelometer fused GPS gives highly responsive speed and pace with Suunto FusedSpeedTM. Heart rate monitoring with Peak Training Effect will keep you within your optimimum training zone and Recovery Time will tell you when you’re fully recovered for your next adventure. And after a hard session in the hills, the GPS will guide you home where you can upload your data for analysis on Movescount.com.
Mountain and Everyday Exploration
The AMBIT is housed in a robust BuiltToLast casing and has an enhanced battery lifetime of up to 50hrs in GPS mode. True to Suunto’s heritage in dive instruments, it is water resistant to 100m. Upgrades are available through Movescount.com.
Comments Jonathan Wyatt, six-time world mountain running champion:
”As a trail runner and mountain athlete, what I need in a watch is a heart rate monitor, speed & distance, and altimeter. The AMBIT has all these features in one unit which is really exciting. One of the main problems for endurance athletes is battery life of conventional GPS sports watches so the promise of 50hrs is a big step forward.
Fusedspeed technology also gives a more accurate pace which is vital for anyone serious about their running. Being able to pair it and use it with all the existing PODs and comfort belts is another big plus point for me. This means one watch can be used for all my activities like mountain biking, road cycling, trail and mountain running, cross country skiing and ski mountaineering.
Knowing that the AMBIT is built for the mountains and will survive whatever I or the elements throw at it also sets it apart. Being able to personalise the displays of the watch, download updates and analyse the data on Movescount.com all help to make the AMBIT an awesome product for mountain athletes.”
”The AMBIT is a unit you can trust,” comments Jari Ikäheimonen, brand manager at Suunto. ”With its GPS and superior functions, the Ambit takes outdoor instruments to a new level. It’s a serious watch packed within a sleek but robust casing. It is the GPS for Explorers.”
Suunto AMBIT is available in black and silver and comes with or without a heart rate belt. It will become globally available in March 2012 in selected outdoor stores.
*AMBIT: As in Ambition. Synonyms: edge, reach, scope or range.
For product images, go to www.suuntodatabank.com
Friday, 27 January 2012Chinita (MD+ 90-degree ice and rock), Tunsho South (5560m), Cordillera Central, Peru. Last fall, local climbers Beto Pinto Toledo and Rolando Morales Evangelista established this line on the unclimbed south summit of Tunsho.
After a few months and a mountain of research, Beto Pinto Toledo decided that the summit of Tunsho South (5650m), in Peru's Cordillera Central, had never been reac hed. Pinto and partner Rolando Morales Evangelista established a new line, Chinita, up to the peak's south summit last fall. Chinita is graded at MD+ with 90-degree ice and rock.
The Cordillera Central, in the interior of Peru near the city of Junin, is one of the least known of the Peruvian ranges due to its distance from major cities. The mineral-rich peaks are subject to several intensive mining projects and associated environmental implications. Tunsho itself comprises two peaks, the northern summit and the lower southern summit. The broadest faces are the east- and west-facing aspects. Almost entirely covered by glacial ice, the east face has the biggest ice wall in the range. In contrast, exposed andesite rock characterizes the west face.
While climbing Norma Mountain last year, Pinto spotted Tunsho's intriguing walls of rock and ice, and set about investigating its history. He found that one Peruvian expedition had reached the northern summit via the west face, and another expedition planned a route up the north ridge, but an accident on the climb prevented them from reaching their goal. Pinto found no record of ascent to the south summit.
Having established that the south summit was unclimbed, Pinto traveled to Huancayo with Morales last October to gather more information. On October 16 they took the four-hour drive and made camp by a lake at 4700m. The next day the pair decided to attempt the peak. They started just after midnight reaching the base of the wall around 3 a.m.
They moved slowly through the first section, which had a "fresh snow roof" and vertical rock climbing. The snow improved higher up, with some areas of blue ice, and faster climbing. The final two pitches were more difficult. Loose snow at eighty to ninety degrees consumed a lot of time on the final section. They reached the summit around 9 a.m. and, having caught their breath and taken in the view, they rappelled the south ridge to a col. Intending to go for the east summit, "weather conditions deteriorated and, after climbing about a hundred meters, we decided to turn back."
Through the ascent, Pinto hopes to "draw attention to this little visited range, because there are a lot of great peaks to climb. And perhaps by generating interest in its tourist potential we can help to protect the area from the damaging effects of intensive mining."
source: www.alpinist.com
Thursday, 26 January 2012The Copp-Dash Inspire Award is currently accepting applications from January 1, 2012 through February 29, 2012 for small climbing teams attempting fast and light alpine climbing objectives with a desire to creatively document and share their experience. The award was established in memory of American climbers Jonny Copp and Micah Dash, who were killed in an avalanche in China in May 2009 along wi th filmmaker Wade Johnson.
Sponsored by Black Diamond Equipment, La Sportiva, Mountain Hardwear, and Patagonia, with support from the Jonny Copp Foundation, American Alpine Club, Alpinist magazine and Sender Films, the Copp-Dash Inspire Award will distribute $20,000 this year to North American applicants.
In honoring Jonny and Micah, the award supports climbers who choose to follow a similar path, both in life and in the mountains. The fund’s goal is to assist climbers before, during and after expeditions with financial grants and multimedia instruction to help empower them to share their current and future adventures with a wider audience.
“This November, we plan to highlight the 2011 Inspire Award winners at the Adventure Film Festival and showcase the creative work that comes out of these expeditions which inspire us all, says Jonathan Lantz, President of La Sportiva North America. “As more climbers become familiar with this grant, we are confident that the Copp-Dash Inspire Award will continue to be a tradition for years to come.”
For more information on the Copp-Dash Inspire Award and application downloads, go to www.CoppDashInspireAward.com or http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Jonny-Copp-Foundation/260142992715. Only teams/individuals from North America are eligible for expeditions occurring between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013. Award winners will be announced by March 30, 2012.
Source: www.outdoorindustry.org
Wednesday, 25 January 2012Saas Fee, Switzerland - The 2012 UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup in Saas Fee, Switzerland concluded Saturday with a second World Cup victory for Angelika Rainer of Italy this year in the Lead discipline and a dramatic display of skill and strength by Russia's Maxim Tomilov in Men's Lead.
Rainer’s victory comes about a week after her win in Cheongsong, South Korea and is significant becaus e the Italian athlete almost quit competitive climbing last year following an elbow injury and other disappointments.
Tomilov, ranked 2nd overall in last year’s World Cup, was the winner in Men's Lead after he put on a stunning performance to cheers from the crowd. Tomilov was the only climber to successfully reach the last panel on the climbing wall. The same event saw disappointing falls by leading contenders such as Park Hee Yong of South Korea (ranked 1st overall in 2011) and Markus Bendler of Austria (ranked 3rd overall in 2011.)
Russian climbers continued to dominate the Speed discipline with Maria Krasavina leading the pack in the Women’s division and Alexey Tomilov placing first in the Men’s division. Slovenian climber Matevz Vukotic was the only non-Russian climber on the podium in Men’s Speed. He came third.
The final results are:
Women's Lead:
1. Angelika Rainer (Italy)
2. Anna Gallyamova (Russia)
3. Maria Tolokonina (Russia)
Men's Lead:
1. Maxim Tomilov (Russia)
2. Ivan Lyulyukin (Russia)
3. Valentyn Sypavin (Ukraine)
Women's Speed:
1. Maria Krasavina (Russia)
2. Julia Oleynikova (Russia)
3.Maria Tolokonina (Russia)
Men's Speed:
1. Alexey Tomilov (Russia)
2. Egor Trapeznikov (Russia)
3. Matevz Vukotic (Slovenia)
For up to date standings and results of the 2012 competition please visit the UIAA website here and the new UIAA Facebook page.
The competition moves next to Champagny-en-Vanoise in France where the World Cup is being held for the first time. From there it moves to Busteni, Romania and Kirov, Russia.
The UIAA was founded in 1932 and has 80 member associations in 50 countries representing about 1.3 million people. The organization’s mission is to promote the growth and protection of mountaineering and climbing worldwide, advance safe and ethical mountain practices and promote responsible access, culture and environmental protection. The UIAA operates through the work of its commissions, which make recommendations, set policy and advocate on behalf of the mountaineering community.
For more information please contact office@theuiaa.org
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