2012 Golden Piton Awards On frozen Karakoram peaks, fierce alpine faces, and crags around the world, climbers killed it last year. Here, Climbing presents the 10th annual Golden Piton Awards for top performances in six disciplines: mountaineering, big wall, traditional climbing, crack climbing, sport climbing, and breakaway success. Thank you, athletes, for your inspiration!
March 2012 - 303 COVER: Ivo Ninov on Pacific Ocean Wall, El Capitan. Photo by Jimmy Chin. Craig's List: A bruising, humbling pilgrimage to the late Craig Luebben's favorite desert offwidths. Gunk Show: Eighteen months at New York's Shawangunks serves up a lifetime of brilliant 5.10 climbing. Your First Big Wall: One of the world's most experienced big-wall climbers reveals the top techniques and tools for first-time aid climbers and veterans alike.
Iker Pou on Nit de Bruixes (5.15a), Spain Video by Red Bull - Spanish climber Iker Pou made the first ascent of Nit de bruixes (5.15a), at the l'Ermitage sector at Margalef, Spain, in January. He describes the route as a 5.14b followed by a very difficult three-bolt section, with a mono-pocket crux. If confirmed at 5.15, this will be his second of the grade; Demencia Senil (5.15a), also in Margalef, marked his first.
Kate Reese McGinnis: Holding On Video by Prana - "Climbing and parenting: a balance between hanging on and letting go. Climbing seems simple enough: grip too hard and you'll pump out early. If you don't put enough effort into it, you'll never make it to the end. Kate has spent over a decade fine-tuning that balance between holding on and letting go. Now with the birth of her first child Annie, she finds the same lessons in parenthood: Suddenly you are two people, dependent on each other, but each with a lifetime of dreams and aspirations ahead of them."
Pebble-Wrestling Pro Eight picks for pad people - The beauty of bouldering is its simplicity. Grab a pad, shoes, some chalk, and head up to the nearest boulderfield for a quick after-work burn or an all-day outing. A good crashpad softens the blow of ankle-wrecking, heel-bruising falls, so you can boulder longer and harder, and it doubles as a bed in the back of your van. Our testers hauled 15 pads around the West’s primo bouldering areas to select these eight top models, ranging from massive highball behemoths to light and compact halfpints.
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March 2012 - 303
Iker Pou on Nit de Bruixes (5.15a), Spain
Kate Reese McGinnis: Holding On
Pebble-Wrestling Pro
CLIMBING MAGAZINE APPAREL
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