Rands on Highball Tour
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Lisa Rands slapping up Lady Big Claque (V7), Fontainebleau.Photo courtesy of The North Face. See more photos at www.thenorthface.com/na/expeditions/expeditions-2006-fountainbleau.html.
Lisa Rands made quick work of two classic John Bachar highballs in Joshua Tree, sending So High and Planet X with no toprope rehearsal. Both are V6 problems with leg-breaking fall potential—and harder for short people. Rands then traveled to Fontainebleau, France, where she completed the highballs Megalithe (V10), Rubis sur l’Ongle (V8) and Lady Big Claque (V7), as well as the lower but extremely difficult Haute Tension (V10).
Rands has moved on to England, hoping for good gritstone conditions. In 2004, she was the first woman to climb a grit E8, headpointing End of the Affair (E8 6c, or 5.13- X) at Curbar Edge. Comment on this story